Upholding RFS commended by biofuels industry

In response to the announcement this morning by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that it had denied pending Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) waiver requests, Brooke Coleman, executive director of the Advanced Ethanol Council provided a comment.

“The advanced ethanol industry commends the US EPA for denying the RFS waiver petition. Waiving the RFS would have done little if anything to reduce grain prices, but would have hurt consumers at the pump and undercut investment in advanced biofuels.

“Congress was right to protect the RFS from specious and politically-motivated waiver arguments, and to include in the program explicit flexibility provisions that allow the standard to adjust to changing market conditions. The RFS is well-designed and is the primary reason why the United States has emerged as the global leader in the development of advanced biofuels. There will be other stalking horses advanced by the oil industry to weaken the RFS, but it is a step in the right direction to put this one behind us,” Coleman said.

Novozymes, the company that touts itself as the world leader in converting biomass—from corn stover and energy crops to household trash — into biofuels, also commended the Environmental Protection Agency’s data-driven decision to uphold the Renewable Fuel Standard.

“With so much at stake for the economy, we need the Renewable Fuel Standard: Its stability has generated 400,000 careers, billions in private investment—and domestic, renewable fuel for America,” Adam Monroe, president of Novozymes North America, said. “Novozymes and other industry leaders have invested more than a billion dollars to commercialize advanced biofuels agricultural waste, household trash and more, in large part because of the RFS.

“We appreciate the administration’s decision to deny the waiver request based on the data — and are pleased the United States will continue becoming less dependent on foreign oil with domestic, renewable fuel for its cars and trucks.”

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