For the second year in a row, the Environmental Protection Agency has set the target for mandated cellulosic biofuel use far below the level required by law. The agency has proposed that between 6.5 million and 25.5 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol be required to be included in gasoline supplies in 2011, far below the 250 million gallons stipulated in the Energy Independence and Security Act.
EPA previously set this year's mandated cellulosic ethanol use at 6 million gallons, again far below the 100 million gallons in the law. The renewable fuels standards for cellulosic ethanol use in 2012, 2013 and 2014 are 500 million gallons, 1 billion gallons and 1.75 billion gallons, respectively.
The law also requires 800 million gallons of biomass-based diesel in 2011 and 1.35 billion gallons of advanced biofuel, which is any biofuel except for ethanol derived from cornstarch and biomass-based diesel fuel. EPA proposed adhering to these requirements for 2011.
The Energy Independence and Security Act calls for a total of 13.95 billion gallons of renewable fuels to be blended into the nation's transport fuels in 2011.
The agency said it "will continue to evaluate the market as it works to finalize the cellulosic standard in the coming months. Overall, EPA remains optimistic that the commercial availability of cellulosic biofuel will continue to grow in the years ahead."
Cellulosic biofuel is produced from grass, agricultural waste, sawdust, or other cellulosic sources. According to EPA, the market is not producing enough ethanol to meet the legal requirement.
The law requires that for a fuel to qualify as renewable, it must produce at least 20 percent less greenhouse gas emissions than gasoline. EPA expects to make decisions by the end of the year on which fuels will be considered to be renewable.
The EPA proposal can be found on the Internet at this site.
