US EPA adopts 2012 renewable fuel standards
5 January 2012
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) adopted the final 2012 percentage standards for the four fuels categories under the agency’s Renewable Fuel Standard program, known as RFS2.
The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) established the annual renewable fuel volume targets, reaching an overall level of 36 billion gallons in 2022. To achieve these volumes, every year EPA issues percentage-based renewable fuel standards for the following year. Based on the standard, each refiner, importer and non-oxygenate blender of gasoline or diesel determines the minimum volume of renewable fuel that it must ensure is used in its transportation fuel.
The final 2012 overall volumes and standards are:
| Category | Volumes | Percentage Standard | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Actual | Ethanol Equivalent | ||
| Cellulosic biofuels | 8.65 million gallons | 10.45 million gallons | 0.006% |
| Biomass-based diesel | 1.0 billion gallons | 1.5 billion gallons | 0.91% |
| Advanced biofuels | 2.0 billion gallons | 2.0 billion gallons | 1.21% |
| Total renewable fuels | 15.2 billion gallons | 15.2 billion gallons | 9.23% |
Percentage standards are based on ethanol-equivalent volumes, not actual volumes. The ethanol-equivalent volume is determined from the volumetric energy content of a biofuel in comparison to the volumetric energy content of denatured ethanol. Biodiesel and cellulosic diesel have equivalence values of 1.5 and 1.7 ethanol equivalent gallons respectively.
Source: US EPA