Biodiesel board backs EPA volume proposal

July 5, 2011
The National Biodiesel Board (NBB) expressed support for the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed 2012-2013 volume requirements for renewable fuels

The National Biodiesel Board (NBB) expressed support for the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed 2012-2013 volume requirements for renewable fuels.

The proposal calls for increasing the biomass-based diesel program from 800 million gallons in 2011 to 1 billion gallons in 2012 and almost 1.3 billion gallons in 2013. (Biodiesel makes up nearly all US biomass-based diesel production.) Because it qualifies as an advanced biofuel, biodiesel is also eligible to exceed the biomass-based diesel targets and help meet general advanced biofuels requirements under the program.

“This proposal represents a careful and responsible approach to growth that is consistent with the resources that we know are available for sustainably producing biodiesel,” said Joe Jobe, NBB chief executive officer. “As America’s first advanced biofuel being produced on a commercial scale nationwide, we have done extensive research to assess the various feedstocks that are used to make biodiesel, including agricultural oils, recycled cooking oil, animal fats, algae, and camelina. We are confident we can meet these targets, and we anticipate that we will likely exceed them. In doing so, we will continue to improve the environment, create jobs, and reduce the nation’s dangerous reliance on foreign oil.”