MCGA pleased by 2023-25 renewable fuel volume proposal
Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its proposed renewable fuel volume requirements under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) for 2023, 2024, and 2025. The RFS requires annual minimum volumes of renewable fuels, such as corn ethanol, to be mixed with conventional gasoline to reduce emissions, expand and diversify the fuel supply, improve energy security, and lower costs.
For 2023, the EPA has proposed setting conventional biofuel volumes at 15 billion gallons. The EPA has proposed setting conventional biofuel volumes at 15.25 billion gallons for 2024 and 2025, respectively.
“MCGA is pleased by the proposed biofuel blending requirements for 2023-25,” President Richard Syverson said in a statement. “Maintaining annual volumes at or above 15 billion gallons will provide consistency for consumers, ensuring that cleaner-burning, renewable biofuel blends like Unleaded 88 are readily available.”
In Minnesota, thanks in part to the RFS, reported sales of Unleaded 88 have reached in heights in recent years, state data show. In the first nine months of 2022, for example, reported Unleaded 88 sales in Minnesota were 76.3 million gallons. That comes after the state set a record for total reported Unleaded 88 sales in 2021 at 87.1 million gallons.
The EPA’s 2023-25 proposal is its first based on qualitative environmental, economic, and agriculture factors listed in the Clean Air Act, rather than specific volumes required by federal law. As such, the EPA has proposed building on the 2022 RFS volume of 15 billion gallons for corn ethanol.
MCGA and the National Corn Growers Association will submit detailed comments to the EPA on the proposal, and the agency has agreed to finalize the RFS volumes by June 2023.
