What is the “Renewable Fuels Standard?
” The Energy Bill, H.R. 6, was signed into law by President Bush on August 8, 2005. The purpose is to enhance the national security of the U.S. by providing for the research, development, demonstration, and market mechanisms for widespread deployment and commercialization of biomass fuels and biobased products, such as biodiesel, biomethane and ethanol. A national credit-trading system established by the bill, as well as provisions allowing the Environmental Protection Agency to reduce the renewable fuels standard in case of inadequate supply of renewable fuels or exceptional cost. The Renewable Fuels Standard requires that a certain percentage of motor fuel in the U.S. must be obtained from renewable sources, such as ethanol or biodiesel. More specifically, the Renewable Fuels Standard requires that at least 4 billion gallons of ethanol and biodiesel must be used in 2006 and quickly increases the amount of biodiesel and ethanol produced in the U.S. from about 700 million gallons per y
The Energy Policy Act of 2005, passed in July 2005 and signed into law by President Bush in August 2005, contained a historic provision – the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS). The RFS dictates that the U.S. will use an increasing amount of renewable fuels, both ethanol and biodiesel, each year between 2006 and 2012. The RFS schedule begins with a minimum of 4 billion gallons of annual renewable fuel use in ’06 and grows to a minimum of 7.5 billion gallons of annual renewable fuel use in ’12. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is charged with implementing the RFS and is working closely with the ethanol industry to finalize the rulemaking process.
