EPA rules on indirect land use change, Renewable Fuel Standard imminent: biofuels supporters, critics chew nails as game-changing rule readies for prime time

In Washington, the release of draft EPA rulemaking for the Renewable Fuel Standard, including a definition of greenhouse gas emissions for biofuels production, is reported by the Des Moines Register to be imminent.

Environmentalists, food manufacturers and cattle and dairy ranchers are lobbying for indirect land use change, with environmentalists hoping for a clamp down on indirect land use change they fear is inspired by high corn prices. Big food and ranchers are more concerned about the direct impact of high commodity prices on their bottom lines.

However, 12 senators have written to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to postpone the imposition of indirect land use change analysis, saying it is unproven and unstable science that will batter an important industry just as it is achieving traction, while at the same time convincing investors that the government will continue to provide an unstable policy foundation for renewable energy, making the picking of winners and losers more of a gamble than an art. T

he Renewable Fuel Standard, as established in 2007, required that fuels produced by ethanol plants opened after 2007 must reduce emissions by 20 percent compared to gasoline, while cellulosic ethanol plants must reduce emissions by 60 percent, as part of an overall 36 billion gallon renewable fuel mandate scheduled for 2022.

The RFS also required a consideration of indirect land use impact as well as direct field-to-wheels analysis, but scientists have battled over whether the current analyses produced by several groups are robust enough scientifically to be employed.

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