USA: Ethanol producers ask EPA to return to 2017 requirement
Leading figures of the biofuels industry in the United States are asking the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to go the extra mile and reach the 15 billion gallons target set for 2017.
In 2007, under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), the U.S. Congress set a statuary target of 15bn gallons of biofuel for the country´s transport system by 2017. On May 31, 2016, the EPA proposed to reduce the target to 14.8 bn gallons.
Ethanol producers are now asking the EPA to reconsider the new target and go the extra mile.
“The EPA has promised 14.8bn gallons for 2017, not 15bn gallons. We could easily do more than 14.8bn gallons if the rule called for it,” told Geoff Cooper, Renewable Fuels Association senior vice president, to Biofuels International.
Cooper also believes that based on the amount of ethanol they are currently producing they could reach 15.4bn gallons by next year.
With the 15bn gallons of biofuel limit, producers are now focusing on increasing the amount of higher ethanol blends to meet the demand coming from carmakers for high octane fuel.
