How will the nation meet the goals of the RFS?
Currently, the majority of renewable transportation fuel produced to meet the RFS is ethanol made from corn. The RFS caps the amount of ethanol that can be produced from corn and be eligible for the RFS at 15 billion gallons per year (bgpy). U.S. ethanol capacity is currently about 14 bgpy. To reach the 36 bgpy RFS renewable fuel goal, there are several different technologies and feedstocks that will need to be used and new environmental performance requirements that must be met. With regard to ethanol produced from corn, there are many direct and indirect economic, environmental, and energy/national security benefits to the public. The next standard in the RFS for ethanol production will be advanced biofuels and/or cellulosic ethanol. Advanced and cellulosic ethanol will be produced from trash, agricultural waste, special energy crops, and just about any other biomass material. At some point in the future, the use of higher blends of ethanol in FlexFuel Vehicles will play a critical r
