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The U.S. EPA finalized amendments to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program that include new renewable fuel production pathways for renewable diesel, renewable naphtha, and renewable electricity (used in electric vehicles) from landfill biogas. According to the EPA, “Adding these new pathways will enhance the ability of the biofuels industry to supply advanced biofuels, including cellulosic biofuels, which greatly reduce the greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) compared to the petroleum-based fuels they replace.” However, these changes don’t address some of the fundamental problems associated with the RFS, according to critics. For example, NACS, the international trade association that serves the convenience… [more]
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According to The President’s energy blueprint, the Obama Administration is calling on Congress to establish a $2 billion Energy Security Trust to invest in breakthrough research into technologies, such as advanced electric vehicles, homegrown biofuels, fuel cells, and domestically produced natural gas. The funds would come from oil and gas royalty revenues generated from development in Federal waters off the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). Other highlights of the blueprint include: Making the renewable energy Production Tax Credit permanent and refundable; A new $25 million prize for the first, natural gas combined cycle power plant to integrate carbon capture and storage;… [more]
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Proponents of algae biofuels have stressed its low environmental impact, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, reduced dependence on foreign oil, and utilization of marginal lands. However, a recent report from the U.S. National Research Council has found that algae biofuels cannot currently be produced on a large scale without using unsustainable amounts of energy, water, and fertilizer – exactly the kinds of impacts algae biofuel production was intended to avoid. Notwithstanding this, the report’s authors do not write off the technology. Jen Stutsman of the Department of Energy said in a statement “[The] report outlines the need for continued research and… [more]
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A new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency mandate under the Renewable Fuel Standard will require a minimum four-gallon purchase of the E10 ethanol-gasoline blend at service station pumps selling both E10 and E15 fuel from the same hose. E15 is an 85% gasoline, 15% ethanol fuel blend, and has only been approved for use in vehicles manufactured after 2001. Roughly two-thirds of gasoline pumps in U.S. gas stations use one hose to dispense different blends of fuel. This has lead to concerns that residual E15 could end up in the engines of vehicles not designed to run on the higher blend, such… [more]
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As drought continues to affect much of the U.S., many observers are thinking critically about the water-energy nexus. A New York Times article points out the myriad ways in which water shortages can threaten energy, from low river levels reducing hydropower output, to cities banning the use of municipal water for hydraulic fracturing. Although we have yet to see water access limit our ability to produce energy, it could lead to higher energy prices, particularly for natural gas, which will increasingly require water recycling and freshwater transport from non-local sources. Biofuels will also increase in price, if crops fail and… [more]
View InsightThe House Armed Services Committee’s newly proposed 2013 Pentagon budget contains a provision that would prevent the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) from purchasing alternative fuels, largely in the form of biofuels, if they cost more than traditional fuels. The proposal comes at a time when the military is ramping up its use of biofuels and the U.S. biofuel industry could use the certainty provided by a customer as large and influential as DoD. An example of DoD’s alternative fuels efforts: In 2009, the navy announced a plan that would have the navy utilize 50% non-oil energy in its operations… [more]
View InsightIn 2007, US EPA began using renewable identification numbers (RINs) to track fuel producer compliance with the Energy Policy Act of 2005’s Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), which calls for fuel blends to contain a minimum amount of renewable fuels. RINs quantify the biofuel, produced or imported, used in fuel blends. Fuel producers buy and sell them, and then submit them to demonstrate compliance. The complexity of RIN markets and RFS compliance has come under scrutiny lately, as several instances of fraud have emerged. In 2010, two small biofuel producers – Clean Green Fuel and Absolute Fuels – started selling fraudulent… [more]
View InsightA recent report from the Bipartisan Policy Center, Energy Innovation at the Department of Defense: Assessing the Opportunities, challenges the assumption that the DoD can function as a be-all-end-all driver of U.S. energy. From the report: “DoD’s historical record on energy innovation is extraordinary, and there is reason to hope that important advances might come from a renewed effort in this area. But there also appear at present to be significant limitations upon the scope and scale of DoD’s likely influence on technological advance that can contribute to the nation’s energy infrastructure as a whole, and particularly to the development… [more]
View InsightAt the Methanol Policy Forum – held March 27, 2012 in Washington, DC – energy industry and policy experts convened to discuss the fuel’s potential as a transportation fuel. The Forum’s opening remarks were made by DOE Assistant Secretary David Sandalow, who offered that methanol offered advantages as a transportation fuel but also brings along some challenges. Among the advantages: “First, and perhaps most important, methanol is inexpensive to produce. At today’s low natural gas and high oil prices, methanol could help reduce fuel costs consumers pay at the pump. “Second, methanol is a liquid at room temperature. It doesn’t… [more]
View InsightAddressing high gasoline prices at a February 23 speech in Miami, President Obama made a case for continued investment in fuel economy and alternative fuel sources like algal biofuels and natural gas. The U.S. cannot drill its way out of high gas prices, he said, adding that anybody who says otherwise “doesn’t know what they’re talking about or just isn’t telling you the truth.” [Fox News] “It’s the easiest thing in the world to make phony election-year promises about lower gas prices,” Obama said. “What’s harder is to make a serious, sustained commitment to tackle a problem that may not… [more]
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