Growth Energy submitted comments to the Environmental Protection Agency on the last day of the comment period on the agency’s proposed 2019 renewable volume obligation (RVO) targets.
Growth Energy is asking the EPA to make the proposed numbers real by accounting for lost gallons which were caused by small refinery exemptions and reallocating those gallons to other refineries to fulfill the target RVO. The organization is once again asking the EPA for Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) relief for rural America to allow the sale of higher-octane blends like E15 year-round. That would help boost domestic market demand for ethanol and help lower fuel prices for consumers.
Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor says the targets appear to be a strong proposal with a 15 billion gallon commitment to starch ethanol and a significant increase in cellulosic biofuels. “However, the proposed RVO has failed to account for the 2.25 billion gallons lost due to small refinery exemptions,” Skor says. “By failing to account for these exemptions, EPA has made the numbers hollow by turning the clock back on the Renewable Fuels Standard by five years.”
Source: National Association of Farm Broadcasting News Service.