US Renewable Fuel Standards – updates

17/07/2023
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The new material about the new US Renewable Fuel Standards (RFS) programme was published on the SAF platform.

On June 21, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a finalized version of the 2023, 2024, and 2025 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) to strengthen U.S. energy security, support U.S. rural economy, and expand production of low-carbon fuels.

Important points

The final rule establishes a balanced increase in biofuel consumption from 2023 to 2025, reducing dependence on oil imports by about 130,000 to 140,000 barrels per day during this period. The estimated value of energy security benefits to the US economy ranges from $173 to $192 million per year.

EPA’s final rule includes a total renewable fuel commitment of 20.94 billion gallons (≈75.7 billion liters) by 2023, of which 15 billion gallons (≈56.78 billion liters) will come from conventional renewable fuels , for example, ethanol from corn.

The rule also provides for an additional 250 million gallons (≈ 946.25 million liters) volume requirement in 2023 to make up for illegally canceled volumes in 2016.

In 2024 and 2025, the final EPA requirements set renewable fuel volumes at 21.54 billion gallons (≈ 81.53 billion liters) and 22.33 billion gallons (≈ 84.52 billion liters), respectively. The conventional renewable fuel requirement is 15 billion gallons (≈56.78 billion liters) for each of these years.

Proposed renewable fuel equivalent ethanol (RIN) volume targets, billion gallons

The rule sets applicable volume and percentage targets for 2023 through 2025 for cellulosic biofuels, biomass-based diesel, advanced biofuels, and total renewable fuels that U.S. refiners must annually blend with gasoline and diesel. We advise you to save the tables.

Percentage standards corresponding to the target volumes of renewable fuels

Read more on the SAF platform about the tables description and RFS definitions of such terms:

biogas,
renewable natural gas (RNG),
renewable fuel obtained from biogas.

We thank Semen Drahniev, an expert of the Bioenergy Association of Ukraine, for this analitical material.

We remind you that UABIO is a partner of the Sustainable agribusiness platform (SAF).

SAF is a communication platform that brings together agribusiness stakeholders and aims to establish strong links between market players and introduce sustainable approaches in agriculture.

For this platform, our team prepares verified professional content on the bioenergy sector.