http://www.biomassmagazine.com/articles/8669/epa-approves-new-cellulosic-advanced-biofuel-pathways
The
U.S. EPA has published a new final rule, qualifying additional fuel
pathways under the renewable fuel standard (RFS) for advanced biofuel,
cellulosic biofuel and biomass-based diesel. The rulemaking covers two
new feedstocks, camelina and energy cane. It also qualifies renewable
gasoline and renewable gasoline blendstocks made from certain feedstocks
as cellulosic biofuel.
Under the new rule, ethanol, renewable diesel (including jet fuel and
heating oil) and renewable gasoline blendstock produced using energy
cane feedstock can now qualify to generate cellulosic biofuel renewable
identification numbers (RINs).
According to the EPA, for the purposes of this rulemaking, energy
cane has been defined as a complex hybrid in the Saccharum genus that
that has been bred to maximize cellulosic rather than sugar content.
Within the final rule, the EPA addresses several comments made by
members of the public during the rulemaking process, including those
related to invasiveness and land use change potential. The EPA states
that energy cane does not raise significant concerns about the threat of
invasiveness. Regarding land use change, the EPA specifies that energy
cane is most likely to be grown on land once used for pasture, rice,
commercial sod, cotton or alfalfa, which would have a less international
direct impact than switchgrass because those commodities are not as
widely traded as soybeans or wheat. “Given that energy cane will likely
displace the least productive land first, EPA concludes that the land
use GHG impact for energy cane per gallon should be no greater and
likely less than estimated for switchgrass,” said the agency in the
rulemaking.
According to the rule, EPA believes that cellulsoic biofuels produced
from the cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin portions of energy cane
will have similar or better lifecycle GHG impacts than biofuel produced
from switchgrass.
Biodiesel and renewable diesel (including jet fuel and heating oil)
made from camelina feedstock are now eligible for biomass-based diesel
or advanced RINs. In addition, camelina-based naphtha and liquefied
petroleum gas can qualify for advanced biofuel RINs.
While the EPA notes in the rulemaking that some parties submitting
comments on the proposed camelina pathways expressed concern over the
potential threat of invasiveness, the EPA states that it believes the
production of camelina is unlikely to spread beyond the intended borders
in which it is grown.
The EPA also specified that the crop is currently being grown on
approximately 50,000 acres of land throughout Montana, Washington, North
Dakota and South Dakota. Overall, the EPA estimates that approximately 9
million acres of land in a wheat/fallow rotation is available for
camelina production nationwide.
“Current information suggestion that camelina will be produced on
land that would otherwise remain fallow,” said EPA in the rulemaking.
“Therefore, increased production of camelina-based renewable fuel is not
expected to result in significant land use change emissions; however,
the agency will continue to monitor volumes through EMTS to verify this
assumption.”
Regarding renewable gasoline and renewable gasoline blendstocks, the
rulemaking qualifies fuels produced from crop residue, slash,
pre-commercial thinnings, tree residue, annual cover crops, and
cellulosic components of separated yard waste, separated food waste and
separated municipal solid waste (MWS). The rule also specifies that,
when utilizing natural gas, biogas and/or biomass as the only process
energy source, thermochemical pyrolysis, thermochemical gasification,
biochemical direct fermentation, biochemical fermentation with catalytic
upgrading can all be used with the listed feedstocks to generated fuel
qualifying as cellulosic biofuel. In addition, any other process that
uses biogas and/or biomass as the only process energy sources to convert
the approved gasoline and renewable gasoline blendstock feedstocks into
biofuel also qualifies for cellulosic RINs.
A full copy of the rulemaking is available on the EPA website.
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