The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it is raising the 2008 renewable fuels standard (RFS), which determines how much non-petroleum fuel will power U.S. vehicles, to 7.76%. The move is in response to the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA), which President Bush signed in December.
Last November, EPA announced a RFS of 4.66%, based on previous law, that mandated at least 5.4 billion gallons of renewable fuels be blended into the nation’s transportation fuels this year. However, EPA is now increasing the standard to 7.76% to comply with the new minimum of 9.0 billion gallons of renewable fuel that EISA requires.
EISA increases the overall volume of renewable fuels that must be blended each year, reaching 36 billion gallons in 2022. To achieve these volumes, EPA annually calculates the percentage-based standard, which applies to refiners, importers and non-oxygenate blenders of gasoline.
Based on the standard, each of these parties determines the minimum volume of renewable fuel that it must use.
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