The American Petroleum Institute (API) recently submitted comments to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the 2017 biofuel volume proposal, in which the organization called for a limit to ethanol volumes under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).
“Instead of providing relief to consumers, EPA’s biofuel proposal for 2017 moves us closer to breaching the blend wall – the point at which the RFS requires more ethanol in the fuel supply than can be safely blended as standard E10 gasoline,” API Downstream Group Director Frank Macchiarola said.
Macchiarola said the EPA should keep ethanol levels at or below 9.7 percent to ensure that it does not hit the 10 percent blend wall and potentially lead to higher gasoline prices for consumers and damage automobile engines. Macchiarola also advocated maintaining some ethanol-free gasoline options for consumers.
“The broken RFS mandate has earned opposition from the Environmental Working Group, anti-hunger group ActionAid, livestock producers, owners of restaurants and convenience stores, as well as members of Congress from both sides of the aisle,” Macchiarola said. “Grassroots advocates submitted more than 513,000 comments to EPA in opposition to the 2017 RFS proposal. Any policy that attracts such widespread criticism deserves action, and API is calling on Congress to pass bipartisan legislation to fix this broken RFS policy.”
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