The Algae Biomass Organization (ABO) released a statement today expressing disappointment with the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed change to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) that would, for the first time, reduce the levels of domestically produced, advanced biofuels that are required to be blended into America’s fuel supply.
The EPA’s proposed requirement for the year 2014 calls for significantly less renewable fuel than the RFS originally intended and also less than what the advanced biofuels industry has indicated it will produce. The proposal would require approximately 13 billion gallons of conventional ethanol and 2.2 billions gallons of advanced biofuels to be blended with petroleum-based gasoline next year. Those figures are significantly less than the 2013 requirements for 13.8 billion gallons of conventional ethanol and 2.75 billion gallons of advanced biofuels.
“The way to move the country forward is not to roll back requirements and goals for renewable fuels. There’s no doubt that America’s biofuels industry has been moving the country forward – creating jobs in rural communities, providing choice at the pump and reducing our dangerous dependence on imported oil,” said Mary Rosenthal, Executive Director of the Algae Biomass Organization. “The EPA’s decision to require fewer gallons of renewable fuels than last year is a clear step back and sends a chilling signal to investors who are looking to finance the future of the American biofuel industry, putting our economic and environmental security at risk.”
The ABO and its members plan to provide comments on the rule to the EPA during the two-month period that precedes a final decision on the 2014 blend requirements.