While we wait to see what Aid will be coming to the Ethanol Industry as the future of Agriculture as we know it hangs in the Balance. It's good to review just how big a Miss EPA handed us last week when it approved measures for Natty Gas Vehicles.. (Anyone use one? Anyone at all??) but Stiffed the Ethanol Industry in this it's hour of need.
That's UNFORGIVEABLE!!!
EPA is Picking Favorites.. and Ethanol is not one of them. RFA: Final Fuel Economy Rule a Missed Opportunity for High-Octane, Low-Carbon Fuels
https://ethanolrfa.org/2020/03/rfa-final-fuel-economy-rule-a-missed-opportunity-for-high-octane-low-carbon-fuels/
Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Transportation issued final regulations for 2021-2026 vehicle fuel economy and emissions standards. According to the Renewable Fuels Association, the final rule ignores the input of automakers, ethanol producers, farmers, environmental groups, retailers and others who called on the agencies to establish a pathway in the rule for transitioning to high-octane low carbon liquid fuels. In response to hundreds of comments calling for the inclusion of high octane fuels as a tool to help automakers meet more stringent fuel economy and emissions requirements, EPA said only that “establishing a higher minimum octane for gasoline is a complex undertaking” and “the present rulemaking is not the appropriate vehicle to set octane levels.”
In addition, EPA said in the final rule it “also is declining to adopt new incentives for flex-fueled vehicles (FFVs) (vehicles designed to operate on gasoline or E85 or a mixture), as some commenters suggested.” The agency said FFV incentives are “outside the scope” of the vehicle fuel economy rule, despite the fact that the rule includes incentives for natural gas vehicles, electric vehicles, and other alternative fuel vehicles. As an example, EPA’s rule assumes that electric vehicles have no “upstream” greenhouse gas emissions related to their use; in other words, the agency completely ignores emissions related to producing electricity from coal, natural gas, and other sources and distributing the electricity to the vehicle. This results in a significant fuel economy “credit” for electric vehicles that is not based on any real emissions reduction. Commenting on the release of the final rule, RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper offered the following statement: “EPA’s final rule is yet another missed opportunity to bring higher-octane, lower-carbon fuels to the market and enable more efficient internal combustion engine technologies. Of all the stakeholders who provided input to EPA on the topic of octane, only the oil industry voiced opposition to EPA using its authority to set standards for higher-octane fuels. Once again, EPA has sided with the oil industry over automakers, biofuel producers, farmers, environmental advocates, and consumers. This rule should have established the roadmap toward cleaner, more efficient, more affordable liquid fuels for our nation’s consumers. Instead, it sends our nation’s vehicles and fuels down yet another pothole-filled road to ruin.”
Under this Administration.. EPA has been a disaster.
Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue stated that the "Renewable Fuels Standard stated that 15 billion Gallons MEANS 15 billion Gallons."
Higher octane with higher ethanol blends IS the PATHWAY to get there.
Ethanol BlogACE's Jennings Asks EPA to Make RFS Changes in Response to COVID-19, Falling Gasoline Demandhttps://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/blogs/ethanol-blog/blog-post/2020/04/03/aces-jennings-asks-epa-make-rfs-19
4/3/2020 | 3:51 PM CDT With ethanol and gasoline demand plummeting in the face of the COVID-19 crisis, ethanol producers across the country are in dire straits. Many plants have been forced to shutdown or cut production, as a lack of demand has created backlogs at ethanol supply facilities. As a result, the head of one ethanol interest group has asked EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler to consider making changes to the renewable volume obligations for 2020, to reflect a sharply fallen demand for fuel. In a letter to Wheeler on Friday, American Coalition for Ethanol Chief Executive Officer Brian Jennings asked the agency to take a number of steps to help ethanol producers. On Dec. 19, 2019, EPA set the overall RFS volume requirement for 2020 at 20.09 billion gallons. In addition, EPA set the total 2020 renewable volume obligation 11.56%. "Importantly, the statute specifically instructs EPA to set the total RVO at a level that 'ensures the requirements' of the statutory obligations are met," Jennings writes. "Circumstances have changed dramatically since Dec. 19 which necessitate the immediate attention of EPA if the statutory requirement is to be fulfilled. COVID-19 has exposed a flaw in EPA's rulemaking approach. Social distancing, stay-at-home, and shelter-in-place orders are cutting gasoline demand by more than 50% in most of the country. As gasoline demand plummets during the coronavirus pandemic, so does ethanol demand meaning the 11.56% RVO will not result in the use of 20.09 billion gallons in 2020 as required by statute."
Jennings said in the letter EPA has to adjust the RVO or the agency would be "violating the RFS statute which amounts to an illegal waiver of blending volumes." He said depending on how long gasoline demand continues to fall, ethanol use in the RFS could fall by between 1 billion and 2 billion gallons this year. "If EPA fails to act, this reduction in ethanol use would correspond to a loss of between 350 million and 700 million bushels of corn demand," Jennings said. "This would cost ethanol producers over $2 billion based on the six-month average price and farmers over 1.35 billion in 2020 according to current pricing information. Fortunately, EPA has authority to quickly address these crippling consequences." Jennings asked the agency to issue an interim final rule by July 1 to increase the RVO for 2020 to ensure that the full 20.09 billion gallons required by law are used. Second, he asked EPA to restore the 500 million gallons of remanded volume as ordered by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 2017. And last, Jennings asked EPA to deny "most" of the currently pending 25 small-refinery exemptions for 2019. "The Trump administration has already used the interim final rule authority to address the economic fallout of COVID-19," Jennings said. "For example, the Small Business Administration (used this authority to provide economic assistance on April 2, 2020 stating the economic impacts resulting from federal, state, and local public health measures to minimize exposure to COVID 19 justified such action." Jennings said the proposed agency actions were "critical to the economic survival of many U.S. renewable fuel producers, farmers, and rural communities."
As much as 40% of the US Ethanol industry is shuttered right now.. this industry will not survive unless the Government Acts.
Wheeler needs to ACT NOW!!
Edited by JonSCKs 4/7/2020 06:40
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EPA Clearly missed opportunity to Support Ethanol as well as Ag in recent ruling.
