Have you heard about the Fuels Parity Act? Chris Bliley, Growth Energy’s senior vice president of regulatory affairs, says the bill, introduced in the House on Monday, would open new doors to ethanol competition.
Corn starch ethanol is prohibited from being categorized as an advanced biofuel under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The blend is prohibited due to its feedstock identification but would be recategorized with the Fuels Parity Act’s passage.
“More and more under the RFS, you have to meet certain greenhouse gas reduction thresholds. EPA is using an outdated analysis from more than a decade ago to measure the carbon intensity of ethanol and other biofuels, despite the Department of Energy’s updated data,” Bliley says. “We want to make sure we capture that accuracy.”
According to Bliley, ethanol plants have lowered their carbon intensity by 50%, which is the threshold to be considered an advanced biofuel. Now that carbon hurdle is out of the way, Chip Flory, AgriTalk host, foresees this bill being a “game changer” for the ethanol industry. Bliley mirrored Flory’s comments.
“The Fuels Parity Act definitely holds tremendous potential if we’re able to make this change for the industry,” he says.
Tom Haag, National Corn Growers Association president, mirrored Bliley in a press release.
“Farmers are proud to contribute to lowering ethanol’s carbon footprint through our production practices, and this bill would ensure EPA uses the most recent science and data to accurately measure the greenhouse gas reduction benefits of biofuels,” said Haag.
Bliley says the bill’s introduction came in good timing, as the EPA proposed tailpipe emission standards last month.
EPA’s new standards, according to their estimates, would require 67% of new vehicles sold in 2032 to be electric in order to comply. Additionally, the agency says the standard would remove 7.3 billion tons of CO2—four years’ worth of the transportation sectors emissions.
But some, like Bliley, say EPA is resting on the emissions benefits in biofuels.
“There should be flexibility for automakers and the Department of Transportation should look at what can be done with biofuels,” he says. “A simple switch to E15 nationally would mean a reduction of more than 17 million tons of greenhouse emissions, which is equivalent to taking four million cars off the road.”
Regardless of electric vehicles roles in the auto industry, Bliley is confident liquid fuels will continue to play a “dominant” role in the fuel sector.
“Liquid fuels’ continued role in the industry for years to come is why it’s really important we look at biofuels, like ethanol, that hold tremendous potential for climate,” he says.
