An American Petroleum Institute official urged the US Environmental Protection Agency to keep renewable fuel quotas at reasonable levels as Congress considers ways to reform the federal Renewable Fuel Standard.
“As EPA prepares the final volumes for 2018 under the RFS mandate, I would like to remind policymakers that this broken mandate is in need of a legislative fix,” API Downstream Group Director Frank Macchiarola said on Nov. 8. “In the meantime, we urge the administration to keep renewable volumes at a low enough level to avoid a potential breach of the blend wall.”
US crude oil production has risen notably since the RFS was established in 2005 and expanded in 2007, Macchiarola said. “America has significantly increased domestic crude oil production and transitioned from a net importer of refined petroleum products to a net exporter. Bad policies, like the RFS, threaten this progress,” he said.
Enforcing the mandate also could make motorists buy fuel with ethanol levels higher than the current 10%, which many engines can tolerate, Macchiarola warned. “Nearly 85% of the vehicles in the US fleet were not built for E15, and this fuel is not compatible with motorcycles, boats, lawn equipment, and all-terrain vehicles,” he said.
Market forces, technological innovations, and investments by the oil and gas industry have combined with increased US crude oil production to supersede goals of the broken RFS, Macchiarola said.
“In the meantime, EPA is attempting to implement a broken program,” he said. “To most effectively do so, we urge EPA to set its final 2018 RFS obligations for ethanol at or below 9.7% of gasoline demand, an amount that allows for E0 sales and recognizes the vehicle and infrastructure constraints that limit the ability to use E15 and E85.”
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