According to two sources, the Environmental Protection Agency of the United States will replace their goals about their renewable fuel program that has been set a decade ago. The EPA will present new goals in January for the last three years of the program
This reset regarding the Renewable Fuel Standard is expected to stir up another fight between the oil companies and the corn growers. The oil companies want to get the smallest targets to help cut down the costs, while the corn growers set their eyes on the highest to help increase investments.
The U.S. RFS that has been in existence since 2007 will expire in 2022. It has helped the Corn Belt industry. The country has also benefited from it by weaning off from fossil fuels. Every year, the U.S. refiners need to blend diesel and gasoline to corn-based ethanol and other biofuels in larger amounts. Another option is to buy from companies that offer blending credits.
In spite of the subsidies, the policy costs the oil companies a lot of money. The production is ineffective and expensive, causing them to fail to reach their targets.
The two people who are prohibited from speaking about the subject publicly said that EPA would cut the supposed 2022 target three years earlier. While the agency has no specific number yet, they plan to bring the target to the current market situations.
The EPA is working on a proposal with stakeholders to reset the plan, said one official of the agency. They intend to finalize the biofuel plan by November 2019.
The Congress expected that by 2022, the production of biofuel would reach up to 36 billion gallons in volumes. However, the production only acquired 20 billion gallons in 2018. It is considered the most serious shortfall from advanced biofuels from algae, corn fiber, among other things.
The Trump administration has cut down the costs of compliance to help the refineries, causing the outrage of biofuel producers with the support of their legislature.
In a phone interview with the lobbyist Derrick Morgan, of the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, he said that they are expecting to see lower volumes of biofuels.
Backers of biofuel want the program to retain higher targets during its final years, as it can help encourage many companies to invest in plant technology.
Chief executive Emily Skor, of Growth Energy, which is a biofuel trade group, said that their goal is to keep Renewable Fuel Standard forward and not backward.