Ethanol groups call for improvements on draft RFS impact report
Summary
The EPA is required to report to congress on the environmental and resource conservation impacts of the RFS program under Section 2004 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. In addition, the RFA noted that corn-based ethanol is the only biofuel for which the report provided a quantitative estimate of volumes attributed to the RFS. In its comments, Growth Energy said that while EPA’s draft of the report correctly makes several important conclusions about the biofuels industry, it continues to rely too heavily on outdated science that inaccurately measures the nature and scale of the environmental impacts attributable to the RFS. “For the full potential of biofuels to be realized and to provide a balanced and credible review of the science on environmental impacts, EPA must use the best, most up-to-date science that omits reliance on flawed data and studies that have been discredited by other government agencies and academics.” Previously, Growth Energy has urged EPA to update its approach to modeling on several occasions. Most recently, in response to EPA’s proposed Renewable Volume Obligations (RVOs) for 2023-2025, Growth Energy introduced two new studies (available here and here) that further contributed to the growing body of research showing the overall environmental benefits of ethanol and the RFS.