Under a proposed consent decree, the EPA would unveil the potentially precedent-setting 2023 RFS by Nov. 16 and finalize the regulations by June 14, 2023, said trade group Growth Energy. A federal district court judge was expected to approve the decree in the coming weeks.
When it created the RFS during the ethanol boom of the early 2000s, Congress set annual targets for renewable fuel use through 2022. Under a so-called regulatory reset, the EPA would set the RFS for 2023 and later years based on criteria in U.S. air pollution law, such as the impact of renewable fuels on air quality, climate change, wildlife habitat, food and fuel prices, and the availability of advanced fuels.
The biofuel industry sees the reset as a prime opportunity for a larger share of the fuel market. Sales of corn ethanol, the most successful alternative transportation fuel deployed in the United States, are constrained by the “blend wall” created by the traditional 10 percent mixture of ethanol into gasoline. The biofuel industry has promoted higher blends, such as E15 and E85, with limited success.
Since 2015, the statutory ceiling for ethanol use in fueling cars and pickup trucks has been 15 billion gallons. The Renewable Fuels Association, which has said the 2023 RFS should bump up the targets for use of all types of renewables, celebrated the 10-year anniversary of E15 sales in a blog last week. E15 is sometimes labeled as “Unleaded 88” or “Clean 88,” a reference to its octane rating and the lower volume of greenhouse gases emitted.
Two dozen senators, including Senate Agriculture chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, urged the EPA to set higher targets for biomass-based diesel in the 2023 and 2024 RFS.
