EPA Resists Pressure for Extra Waste-to-Ethanol RFS Credits

Date: May 7, 2008

Source: News Room

The renewable fuels and solid waste industry are said to be concerned with EPA reluctance to offer additional credits for developing waste-to-ethanol and other sources that exceed the greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction goals of the recent energy law's renewable fuel standard (RFS). The industry may ask Congress to intervene by passing legislation granting more credits to developers of very low carbon fuels. President Bush in December signed the energy law requiring the production of 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels by 2022, with 21 billion gallons to come from advanced biofuel or other than corn-based, such as fuel from garbage. An EPA abstract acknowledges that MSW is a plentiful feedstock and the fuel made from this source could realize significant GHG reductions in comparison to other biofuels. It states that 77% of the 251 million tons generated annually could be used to make biofuel, an energy equivalent to 10.7 billion gallons of gasoline. Other benefits are numerous: MSW is generated near population centers, so it would not need to be transported very far, its use as a fuel source would not require land-use changes as does corn, and keeping it out of landfills avoids methane released during decomposition. Although there are currently no commercial scale facilities that turn garbage into biofuel, numerous companies are moving ahead with plans for facility construction.

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