The Clean Fuels Alliance America has requested the EPA to establish a Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) higher than the levels set for 2024 and 2025.  In 2023, the EPA volume was 2.8 billion gallons with a suggested 3.25 billion gallons.  Actual fuel produced was 4.6 billion gallons in 2023.  The Clean Fuels Alliance is requesting a 5.1-billion-gallon RFS in 2024, increasing to 5.6 billion gallons in 2025.

It is evident that the request is an attempt to create an artificial demand for biomass-based diesel fuel.  At the present time, the EPA has determined that 115 million gallons of biodiesel production annually have been idled and 12 million gallons have been terminated.  Approximately 1.4 billion gallons of planned diesel capacity has been deferred.

If additional volumes of soybeans are crushed to produce oil to be diverted into biodiesel, it presumes that more soybean meal will be available for livestock feeding and export.  This may be of benefit to farmers in view of the declining volume of soybean exports, down approximately 20 percent year-to-date attributed to reduced demand by China and a preference for supplies from South America.

RFS-Cellulosic ethanol is an aspirational myth