Blended Renewable Fuels Warrant Inclusion in All Government Programs
4 March 1998
Blended Renewable Fuels Warrant Inclusion in All Government Programs
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., March 4 -- The recognition of blended
renewable fuels under all federal government programs will bring
environmental, national energy security and economic benefits to the nation.
Mark Sagrans, representing the National Biodiesel Board (NBB), presented
information supporting this statement before the Renewable Fuels Association
Annual Meeting last week in Albuquerque, N.M. For blended renewable fuels to
gain recognition, Sagrans sees the need for the ethanol and biodiesel
industries to work together to change government policies that discriminate
against flexible-fueled vehicles that use renewable fuels.
Vehicles that run on biodiesel and ethanol are flexible-fueled vehicles
because the fuels can be used in conventional engine technology in blends
anywhere from 1 percent to 100 percent. Ethanol is compatible with gasoline
engines while biodiesel is compatible with diesel engines. Dedicated
alternative fueled vehicles require a dedicated fuel source and usually use
gaseous fuels, such as propane or natural gas, or electricity.
Renewable fuels, such as biodiesel and ethanol, allow end-users to move
away from traditional fuels while maintaining similar vehicles and
infrastructure and allowing a cost-effective transition to alternative fuel
use.
In addition, renewable fuels improve the environment. For example,
biodiesel produces immediate environmental benefits by reducing tailpipe
emissions of particulate matter, hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and visible
smoke when compared with baseline emissions of conventional diesel.
Renewable fuels also provide economic returns to American agriculture
since they are derived from crops, such as soybeans and canola for biodiesel
and corn for ethanol. Since biodiesel is created from crops, it reduces the
net amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. It does this by recycling
atmospheric carbon and displacing fossil fuels, which simply continue to
dredge up underground carbon chains and dump them in the atmosphere, says
Sagrans.
Also, the nation can reduce the dependence on imported petroleum by using
domestically produced renewable fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel.
Despite the many benefits of blended renewable fuels, government agencies,
such as the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), have been slow to incorporate them into all programs
and policies.
"Instead of cost-effective blended-fuel strategies, both DOE and EPA
single-mindedly pursue the silver bullet of radical new technologies that
create vehicles and infrastructures no one can really afford," says Sagrans.
"We need to ensure fleet managers, who are required to invest in
alternative-fueled vehicles and alternative fuels under DOE and EPA programs,
are freely allowed to choose cost-competitive flexible-fueled vehicles and
fuel technologies, like biodiesel and ethanol, over expensive, dedicated fuel
technologies, like propane and natural gas," says Sagrans.
Biodiesel is registered with EPA as a fuel and fuel additive. The most
popular blend tested B20, a blend of 20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent
petroleum diesel, is certified by EPA as part of an approved emissions control
technology, along with a caralytic converter and timing change, for the Clean
Air Act's urban bus retrofit/rebuilt program. However, DOE has yet to
designate any blend of biodiesel and petroleum diesel as an alternative fuel,
despite more than three years of efforts by the biodiesel industry.
The Renewable Fuels Association is a trade association for the ethanol
fuel production industry. The National Biodiesel Board is a farmer-directed,
non-profit organization based in Jefferson City, MO., that is dedicated solely
to creating commercial markets for biodiesel in the United States.
SOURCE National Biodiesel Board
