Renewable fuel standard

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The RFS was mandated by the Energy Policy Act of 2005. It requires that by 2012, at least 7.5 billion gallons of renewable fuel be blended into motor vehicle fuel sold in the U.S. 

In 2005, a Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) was enacted in the United States, which requires the annual volume of biofuels to be blended into gasoline to increase to 7.5 billion gallons (28 billion litres) by 2012. The mandatory Alternative Fuel Standard (AFS) from 2007 further requires 35 billion gallons (132 billion litres) of renewable and alternative fuels in 2017. 

Both in the USA and the EU, the introduction of renewable fuels standards is likely to increase considerably the consumption of bioethanol. Lignocelluloses from agricultural and forest industry residues and/or the carbohydrate fraction of municipal solid waste (MSW) will be the future source of biomass, but starch-rich sources such as corn grain (the major raw material for ethanol in USA) and sugar cane (in Brazil) are currently used. Although land devoted to fuel could reduce land available for food production, this is at present not a serious problem, but could become progressively more important with increasing use of bioethanol. For this reason, it is important to utilize other crops that could be cultivated in unused land (an important social factor to preserve rural populations) and, especially, start to use cellulose-based feedstocks and waste materials as raw material. 

I I Total ethanol production 1 Renewable fuel standard — Maize use (ri. axis)... 

Consiunption of biofuels is projected to rise from 1.3 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (mboe/d) in 2011 to 2.1 mboe/d in 2020, and 4.1 mboe/d in 2035 (Table 10.1). By 2035, biofuels will meet 8% of total road-transport fuel demand, up to 3% from today s use. Combined, the United States, Brazil, the European Union, China and India account for about 90% of world biofuels demand according to the Outlook]o msiX, with government policies driving the expansion in these regions (lea, 2013). The United States remains the largest biofuels market, spurred on by the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) through 2022 and assumed continuation of support thereafter, with... 

Environmental Protection Agency, 2015. Renewable Fuel Standard Proposed Renewable Fuel Volumes for Calendar Years 2014, 2015, and 2016. Available from http //www.epa.gov/ otaq/fuels/renewablefuels/regulations.htm (accessed 06.08.15.). 

Environmental Protection Agency, February 2010. Renewable Fuel Standard Program (RFS2) Regulatory Impact Analysis. EPA-420-R-10—006. 

Anon., 2010. EPA Finalizes Regulations for the National Renewable Fuel Standard Program for 2010 and Beyond, p. 7. Available at http //www.epa.gov/oms/renewablefuels/ 420fl0007.pdf. 

U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard (2008), Revised Renewable Fuel Standard for 2008, Federal Register, 73, 8665-8667. 

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