On Wednesday the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the finalization of rules for the Renewable Fuel Standard, including lifecycle analysis that takes into account land use changes.
The new rules reflect the fact that advanced and cellulosic biofuels
deliver substantially greater pollution reductions than today’s
biofuels, such as corn ethanol.
Despite intense pressure from the corn ethanol industry to exclude
emissions from indirect-land-use change, the EPA found that such
emissions are a major source of heat-trapping pollution from corn
ethanol and other food-based biofuels.
The new rules received a favorable review from the Union of Concerned Scientists
(UCS). The science group praised the agency for a transparent process
that accurately accounted for biofuels’ lifecycle heat-trapping
emissions by including so-called “indirect-land-use emissions.”
The EPA
also issued an analysis examining the scientific uncertainty involved
in calculating emissions from indirect-land-use change and plans to ask
the National Academy of Sciences to look at the issue.
Indirect-land-use-change emissions also have been the focus of recent analysis by the California Air Resources Board, as well as peer-review scientific articles, which concluded that using food crops to produce fuel increases worldwide demand for those crops, prompting farmers to clear previously untouched land to grow new crops. Clearing land, especially tropical forests, releases massive amounts of heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere.
The Renewable Fuel Standard, enacted in 2005, requires fuel suppliers to blend a higher percentage of renewable fuels, such as ethanol and biodiesel, into motor vehicle fuels over time.
In 2007, Congress passed the "Energy Independence and Security Act," which expanded the standard’s overall volume requirement from 7.5 million gallons by 2012 to 36 billion gallons by 2022, and significantly increased the requirement for low-carbon cellulosic biofuels. It also required the EPA to establish independent volume mandates for different fuel categories. Each category was to be defined by its lifecycle heat-trapping emissions compared with conventional gasoline.
The categories include: renewable fuel (20% less emissions than gasoline), biomass-based diesel (50% less), advanced biofuels (50% less), and cellulosic biofuels (60% less).
Corn ethanol facilities that were operating or under construction in 2007 are exempt from meeting the emissions-reduction requirements. The EPA projects that new corn ethanol facilities coming on line in 2022 could meet the 20% heat-trapping emissions reduction threshold for renewable fuels. However, this analysis is based on projected increases in crop yields and improvements in ethanol production technology and is not an analysis of the performance of today’s corn ethanol facilities.
UCS experts say cellulosic ethanol, derived from grass, wood chips and other waste material, is a better option. According to EPA analysis, ethanol made from corn residue, or stalks and cobs, could reduce emissions by more than 90% compared with gasoline, in part because it would not necessarily displace land used to grow food crops and therefore would not trigger significant indirect land use emissions.
Cellulosic fuel production, however, has fallen short of the EPA target. The 2007 energy law required suppliers to produce 100 million gallons of cellulosic fuel in 2010. But current cellulosic ethanol production stands at only 6.5 million gallons. Therefore, the EPA announced Wednesday that it is waiving 93.5 million gallons of the 100 million gallon requirement. (This topic was discussed in a recent Green Week in Review interview with the CEO of cellulosic ethanol company BlueFire Ethanol.)
"Achieving energy security and tackling climate change will require a big contribution from cellulosic fuels," said Martin. "Just setting a goal isn’t good enough in this economy. We need investment policies that help this industry get off the ground."
According to UCS, the most important thing federal legislators could do to meet the Renewable Fuel Standard’s goals would be to support investment in building commercial-scale cellulosic biofuel facilities across the country. An investment in this essential clean energy technology would jumpstart rural economies and expand the economic benefits of biofuels production
In Related News…
The announcement about the Renewable Fuel Standard was part of a larger set of initiatives announced Wednesday by President Barack Obama to boost the U.S. biofuel and coal industries.
Read MSNBC coverage at the link below.
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