Today, POET joined biofuel leaders in Iowa calling on Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt to eliminate an outdated federal requirement that blocks year-round sales of E15 biofuel blends across the U.S.
“Yesterday, EPA published a rule that sent mixed messages about the future of advanced biofuels. The rule left many producers, farmers and policymakers here in Iowa concerned about the future financial health of rural America,” said Kyle Gilley, Senior Vice President of External Affairs and Communications for POET, LLC. “If the EPA wishes to advance domestic energy sources while promoting consumer choice, Administrator Pruitt has the authority to eliminate a regulatory barrier that brings our country energy security and provides future opportunities to Iowans. We encourage the Administrator to eliminate the unnecessary RVP regulation that is hindering investment in new cellulosic fuels and blocking access to American-made E15.”
In October, Administrator Pruitt promised members of the U.S. Senate that the EPA would explore a regulatory pathway and work with Congress toward a nationwide Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) waiver for E15.
“Greater regulatory certainty and eliminating regulatory barriers like RVP are keys to incentivizing new development and expanding production of cellulosic biofuels,” Gilley continued. “Increasing the 2019 cellulosic volume targets and granting RVP relief to E15 are two critical steps the EPA can take to help Iowa farmers and biofuel producers deliver cleaner-burning, less expensive E15 fuel that more and more U.S. consumers are demanding.”
Project LIBERTY, part of a joint venture between POET and the Netherlands-based DSM, is a 20 million-gallon-per-year facility in Emmetsburg, Iowa that converts crop residue into cellulosic biofuel. Thanks to significant breakthroughs in 2017, the facility is shipping cellulosic biofuel regularly even as it ramps up to full capacity.
Project LIBERTY is directly adjacent to the starch biofuel facility POET Biorefining – Emmetsburg, taking full advantage of shared resources including staff and experience, infrastructure, feedstock logistics and energy use. This model will allow cellulosic biofuels to expand nationwide through the base established by the starch biofuels industry.
