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Legislation & Rules
40 CFR 80
Prescribes regulations
for the control and/or prohibition of fuels and additives for use in motor
vehicles and motor vehicle engines. It also establishes a credit and trading
system, compliance mechanisms, and record keeping and reporting requirements.
Energy Policy Act of
2005, Title XV: Ethanol & Motor Fuels, Subtitle A: General Provisions, § 1501
Renewable Content & Gasoline, August 8, 2005
This policy creates the Renewable Fuels Program within the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) and gives EPA the authority to establish regulations to
“ensure that gasoline…in the United States on an annual average basis, contain
the applicable volume of renewable fuel.” The legislation set renewable fuel
volume requirements (measured in gallons) as follows:
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2006 |
4 billion |
2010 |
6.8 billion |
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2007 |
4.7 billion |
2011 |
7.4 billion |
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2008 |
5.4 billion |
2012 |
7.5 billion |
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2009 |
6.1 billion |
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Updates, Comments & Other Reports
August 2008
EPA Administrator Stephen L.
Johnson announced his decision to deny a request submitted by the State of Texas
to reduce the nationwide Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS). As a result, the
required total volume of renewable fuels, such as ethanol and biodiesel,
mandated by law to be blended into the fuel supply will remain at 9 billion
gallons in 2008 and 11.1 billion gallons in 2009.
Current law authorizes EPA
to waive the national RFS if the agency determines that the mandated biofuel
volumes would cause “severe harm” to the economy or the environment. The agency
recognizes that high commodity prices are having economic impacts, but EPA’s
extensive analysis of Texas’ request found no compelling evidence that the RFS
mandate is causing severe economic harm during the time period specified by
Texas. For more information contact Jonathan Shrader at 202-564-4355 or visit
EPA’s website.
March
2008
EPA recently amended the 2008 renewable fuels standard to comply with the Energy
Independence and Security Act of 2007. This new legislation amends the Clean
Air Act to mandate that at least 9 billion gallons of renewable fuels be blended
into transportation gasoline in 2008.
February 2008
Magellan Midstream
Partners, L.P. and Buckeye Partners, L.P. have begun a joint assessment to
determine the feasibility of constructing a dedicated ethanol pipeline. The
proposed pipeline could have the capacity to supply more than 10 million gallons
of ethanol per day. It would gather ethanol from production facilities in Iowa,
Illinois, Minnesota and South Dakota to serve terminals in major markets such as
Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and the New York harbor. The project, which
preliminarily has been estimated to cost in excess of $3 billion, would span
approximately 1,700 miles and would take several years to complete.
December 2007
EPA is setting a new renewable fuels standard of 4.66 percent to meet the 2005
Energy Policy Act’s mandate that at least 5.4 billion gallons of renewable fuels
be blended into transportation gasoline in 2008. The standard for 2007 was 4.02
percent, equating to roughly 4.7 billion gallons.
September 2007
September 1 marks the deadline when obligated parties, such as major refiners,
blenders, and importers must meet reporting, registration, and other key
compliance requirements. For assistance with registration related questions,
contact the EPA RFS Helpline at (202) 343-9755. For more information on the RFS
rule, visit
http://www.epa.gov/otaq/renewablefuels.
May 2007
EPA issued its final regulations for its renewable fuel standard (RFS) credit
trading system. It requires an increasing amount of renewable fuels in the
transportation pool, up to 7.5 billion gallons by 2012. Specifically, the RFS
requires refiners, importers, and blenders (other than oxygenated blenders) to
show that a required volume of renewable fuel is used in gasoline. Small
refiners and refineries are exempt from the requirements through 2010, and all
gasoline producers located in Alaska, Hawaii and noncontiguous U.S. territories
are exempt indefinitely.
It appears that this rule will
not materially impact the traditional 3rd party terminal industry.
However, if during the custody transfer the terminal at some point owns the
product, the rule will indeed apply. ILTA has produced a
template
for EPA’s RFS Required Activity Report for terminal review and use.
For calendar year 2007, EPA is
calling for the RFS compliance period to be from September 1 through December
31. For 2007, 4.7 billion gallons of renewable fuel is required. Click
here to view the final rule as published in the Federal
Register.
Associated Topics
A renewable fuel is defined as
a motor vehicle fuel that is produced from plant or animal products or wastes.
Both biodiesel and ethanol utilize the chemical energy stored in plants as a
result of photosynthetic processes, thus both fuels are considered “renewable.”
Quick Facts about Biodiesel:
Biodiesel refers to the pure
fuel (B-100) before blending with diesel fuel.
Over 20 countries use
commercial biodiesel products, including the United States. Biodiesel is made by
separating glycerin from fat or vegetable oil. The highest yield feedstock for
biodiesel is algae, however rapeseed and soybean oils are most commonly used for
biodiesel production. Other crops used as feedstock include corn, mustard,
sunflower, and palm oil.
Biodiesel is biodegradable and
non-toxic, and produces significantly fewer emissions that petroleum-based
diesel when burned. It is used as a home heating fuel as well as a
transportation fuel. It can be blended at any level with petroleum diesel to
create a biodiesel blend, and thus can be used in place of petroleum-based
diesel in automobiles. In September of 2005, Minnesota became the first US
state to mandate that all diesel fuel sold in the state contain part biodiesel,
requiring a content of at least 2% biodiesel.
More information on biodiesel
can be found on the
National Biodiesel Board
Web site.
Quick Facts about Ethanol (C2H5OH):
Four countries have
developed significant ethanol fuel programs: Brazil, Colombia, China and the
United States. Ethanol is made by fermenting materials containing starch or
sugar. In the US, corn is the primary crop used to make ethanol, currently at a
rate of approximately two billion gallons per year. However, new production
methods are being developed to use switch-grass as an alternative to corn. Other
countries, such as Brazil and Colombia, use sugarcane as their primary crop for
ethanol production. Until recently, China was using grain as its primary source
however, due to concerns over food shortages, they are exploring new
alternatives including sweet potatoes, cassava and sweet sorghum.
Ethanol (with no more than 1%
water) can be blended with gasoline in varying quantities to reduce consumption
of petroleum fuels. As a fuel additive, ethanol is primarily used in two forms:
·
E-10 is a blend of
approximately 10% ethanol and 90% unleaded gasoline. In this form it can safely
be used in any gasoline powered vehicle. All cars manufactured in the United
States since 1982 have fuel systems that are E10-compatible.
·
E-85 is 85% ethanol
blended with 15% unleaded gasoline. In this form it can only be used in
specially built vehicles as ethanol can react with or dissolve certain rubber
and plastic materials. Also, pure ethanol is highly corrosive to steel.
Engines using fuel
with from 30% to 100% ethanol need a cold-starting system for reliable starting
at temperatures below 13 °C (55 °F) and to meet EPA emissions standards.
For current headlines,
analysis and data relating to the ethanol industry visit the
DTN Ethanol Center.
Ethanol Fire Preparedness
In 2006, the United States Ethanol Emergency Response Coalition (EERC) was
formed with ILTA as a charter member organization. This group was formed to
address challenges that face first responders in handling ethanol fires and
spills.
Ethanol is a flammable liquid
with a flash point of 55.4`F. As a polar solvent, it is entirely miscible with
water and will continue to burn beyond 90% dilution. Combating ethanol fires is
best accomplished using foam specifically designed for polar solvents. In
February 2007, EERC will conduct live fire tests using differing types of foams
on ethanol fuel fires. The objective is to document which foams are most capable
of controlling these fires. A white paper will be produced on the testing
results. From that, a first responder training program will be developed and
disseminated across the country to all fire departments. For more information,
please contact Peter Weaver at
rpweaver@ilta.org.
Related ILTA Articles
ILTA provides a monthly
newsletter to its membership. Members may log in to the Member Resources page to
access archived newsletters. The following is a list of articles ILTA has
published in its newsletter relating to Alternative Fuels.
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Environmental Groups and Food Producers Escalate Their Criticism of Ethanol,
June 2008 Issue (p.4)
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ILTA Adds
Reality Check to Discussion of the Renewable Fuel Standard,
May 2008 Issue
(p.2)
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Missouri
Considers Biodiesel Blanding Mandate for All Diesel Terminals in the State,
March 2008 Issue (p.3)
- Cellulosic Ethanol: The
Unwanted Government Commodity,
January 2008 Issue (p.2)
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Biofuels Bill Introduced,
June 2006 Issue (p.1)
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Chevron Invests in Soy-Based Diesel Fuel,
June 2006 Issue (p.6)
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EPA Amends Designate & Track Requirements for
Non-Petroleum (Biodiesel) Fuel,
May 2006 Issue (p.2)
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Internet Visionaries Bet on Eco-Fuels:
Ethanol & Biodiesel, May 2006
(p.6)
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Is Biodiesel Covered by the ULSD Rules? EPA
Regulations Say Yes; EPA Staff Says No,
April 2006 Issue (p.6)
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Renewable Fuel Mandate Requires a New Layer
of Reporting & Enforcement Rules,
January 2006 Issue (p.3)
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Ethanol Mandate,
August 2005 Issue (p.1)
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House Alternative & Renewable Fuels Bill:
Senate Renewable Energy Bill, July
2005 Issue (p.1)
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