Obama calls for increased federal biofuels support

[JohnWxy]

http://www.ethanolproducer.com/article.jsp?article_id=5661

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and U.S. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson held a joint press conference this morning to announce the development of an interagency working group that has been formed at the request of U.S. President Barack Obama in order to expedite advanced biofuels research and commercialization.

The interagency working group, which will include members of the USDA, U.S. DOE and EPA, will evaluate roadblocks to the continued development of biofuels, and determine ways in which they can be reduced or eliminated. “What the President is suggesting is the need for integration within these departments, and then further coordination within the industry,” Vilsack said. “I suspect that the interagency working group will learn a lot about these rules, regulation, concerns and barriers. We’ll work with our colleagues in other agencies of government to try to reduce those.” Members of the working group will work with members of the biofuels industry to restructure previous investments, expand the use of flex fuel vehicles, and coordinate compatible infrastructure with the goal of expanding the use and available of biofuels.

The President has also requested that the USDA begin to implement Farm Bill programs to aid in the development of advanced biofuels within the next 30 days. This includes more than $1.1 billion in funding to support the development of advanced biorefineries, assist existing facilities to convert from fossil fuel use to renewable power use, and create opportunities for producers to receive assistance to produce new cellulosic crops. “He has also asked us to immediately take our credit programs and see if there are ways in which we can assist existing facilities who are currently stressed to restructure their investments and their financing in a way that gives them additional time to get through these difficult times,” said Vilsack.

During the press conference, Jackson also announced that EPA’s proposed rulemaking for the second stage of the renewable fuel standard as enacted by the Energy and Independence Security Act of 2007 (RFS2) will be released later today. According to Jackson, the law calls for indirect land use to be part of the analysis, so the proposed rule does include it. She also said that EPA is soliciting peer reviewed scientific feedback to ensure that the finalized rule reflects the best available science. Specific areas of review, she said, will include a peer review of the satellite data that is used to project future land use changes, land conversion greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions factors, the estimates of GHG emissions from foreign crops, the methods to account for variable timing of GHG emissions, and how the various models are used together in order to provide overall lifecycle GHG estimates.

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Ethanol industry reaction:
http://ethanolproducer.com/article.jsp?article_id=5662

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“I think the president has sent an incredibly important signal today that biofuels are going to be a key component in his strategy to address, energy, economic and environmental challenges,” Renewable Fuels Association President Bob Dinneen said. “We also want to applaud the EPA for their work in getting a rule out. We want the debate to begin .” Dinneen said the administration “wisely chose” to subject ILUC effects to peer-review and that the RFA will be participating aggressively throughout the process.

“The President’s directive will ensure that science, not politics, determines the future of biofuels, which will surely disappoint opponents of ethanol whose campaign has been designed to destroy public policy support for ethanol,” said Brian Jennings, executive vice president at the American Coalition for Ethanol. “We encourage the Biofuels Interagency Working Group, led by USDA secretary Vilsack, to require fossil fuels undergo the same lifecycle analysis that has been imposed on biofuels. The president’s interagency working group is the perfect place to peer review and scrutinize the assumptions that have been made to date by EPA regarding the carbon intensity of biofuels and fossil fuel, and to ensure that science drives how clean energy policies are crafted in the future.”

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THis is great. A science based examination of ILUC is what we need. I think when they really examine all the affects of producing oil, biofuels will look even more indespensible.