EPA releases fuel standards, reduces cellulosic biofuels

Jan. 2, 2012 – The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the new renewable
fuel standards for biomass-based diesel, advanced biofuels, cellulosic
biofuels and total renewable fuels for 2012.

According to an article from Earth Techling, the EPA is requiring fuel refiners and importers to blend 1.25 billion
gallons more renewable fuel in 2012 than in 2011. This equates
to: 1.0 billion gallons of biomass-based diesel (0.91 percent of total
U.S. refined fuel products), 2.0 billion gallons of advanced biofuels
(1.21 percent), 8.65 million gallons of cellulosic biofuels (0.006
percent), and a total of 15.2 billion gallons of renewable fuels (9.23
percent).

What does this mean for cellulosic biofuels?

While the 2011 cellulosic biofuel standards were at six million gallons, the EPA has increased the requirement for 2012, which is good. However, the problem erupts from the large decline from the expected commitment of 50 million gallons in 2012, and far-and-away from the mandate of producing 16 billion gallons by 2022.