Good News, Bad News, Dots EPA’s RFS Announcement

WASHINGTON, DC – In what could only be called a “good news, bad news” joke, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its latest Renewable Volume Obligation (RVO) for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) on Friday.

The good news, according to the CEO of the Renewable Fuels Alliance (RFA) Geoff Cooper is that “the combination of a strong RVO for 2022, restoration of illegally waived volume from 2016, and a new direction for the SRE program puts the RFS program on solid footing for the future.”

The bad news, however, is that EPA also retroactively reduced the amount of ethanol that must be blended into gasoline for 2020 and 2021, in a move they explain reflects the situation of less demand during the coronavirus shutdown.

While the ethanol industry is cheering the news, Chet Thompson, CEO of the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, explained the blending requirement for this year is “unachievable (and) will needlessly raise fuel production costs” while further threatening the viability of U.S. small refineries.

In another bit of good news for the renewable fuel sector, USDA announced $700 million in Coronavirus Relief in support of almost 200 biofuel producers due to unexpected market losses during the pandemic
(SOURCE: All Ag News)