The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) wants cellulosic biofuel producers to turn out 8.65 million gallons next year, significantly more than in 2011 but far less than Congress mandated four years ago.
The cellulosic biofuel figure is one of the final 2012 Renewable Fuel Standard targets announced by EPA this week. It’s 30% higher than the 6.6 million gallons the agency required this year, and on the high side of the 3.45- to 12.9-million-gallon range it proposed in June. But the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which established the standards, calls for production of 500 million gallons of cellulosic fuel next year.
In total, EPA is asking refiners to produce 15.2 billon gallons of renewable fuels in 2012, roughly 9% of the country’s transportation fuel supply. The annual targets will steadily increase to an overall level of 36 billion gallons in 2022.