The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today issued the final volumetric requirements under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) for 2014 through 2016. EPA also released a 2017 standard for biomass-based diesel.
12-01-2015 A bipartisan group of 32 U.S. Senators wrote to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Feb. 9 urging the agency to quickly to approve strong biodiesel volumes under the Renewable Fuel Standard for 2014, 2015, and 2016.
02-12-2015 The Senate Finance Committee approved legislation on April 3 to extend tax credit provisions that expired at the end of 2013. Notable to fuel marketers was the inclusion of a two-year extension of the $1 per gallon biodiesel tax credit. NATSO has communicated extensively with the committee over the last several months supporting the provision.
04-04-2014 The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering reducing its 2014 ethanol volume targets amid complaints from refiners that the volume requirements exceed their ability to blend it into fuels without resorting to higher blends such as E15 that would put engines at risk, Bloomberg has reported.
10-11-2013 Although the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has sent its 2014 biofuels proposal to the White House Office of Management and Budget for Review, next year’s targets could be delayed because of the Government shutdown, according to published reports.
10-07-2013 As the House Energy and Commerce Committee reviews the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) for the first time in five years, Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) has tasked four Republican panel members to take the lead on RFS reform.
08-01-2013 The European Union plans to propose limiting the use of crop-based biofuels in transportation to 5 percent.
07-15-2013 With Congress increasingly critical of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), legislation introduced last week is taking a different tack: it would require that 30 percent of new automobiles in 2016 operate on non-petroleum fuels instead of, or in addition to, petroleum-based fuels. That figure would increase to 50 percent in 2017 and in subsequent years.
07-01-2013 Echoing legislation introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this year, U.S. Senators John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) last week introduced “The Renewable Fuel Standard Repeal Act” (S. 1195), which would repeal the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) in its entirety. Sen. Barrasso said the RFS is “fundamentally broken and beyond repair,” and that it has driven up food and fuel costs rather than deliver meaningful environmental benefits.
06-24-2013 While alternative fuels and technologies may increase in the future, diesel will remain the primary fuel for the trucking industry for decades. The findings were part of a two-year study on the future of alternative fuels conducted by the National Petroleum Council. The U.S. Secretary of Energy requested the study, which looked at the full breadth of alternative-fuel options alongside traditional diesel and gasoline.
06-20-2013 A proposed U.S. EPA rule would greatly expand the number of advanced fuels that would be eligible to generate RINs. Responding to petitions from renewable fuel producers, EPA has proposed allowing renewable diesel, renewable naphtha, and renewable electricity (used in electric vehicles) produced from landfill gas to generate RINs under the federal renewable fuel standard. Also proposed to generate RINs are renewable compressed natural gas and liquefied natural gas produced from landfill biogas. To be eligible, the landfill biogas must produce 60 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions over its lifecycle as compared to gasoline.
06-03-2013