Department of Energy, USDA Announce Plan for Renewable Fuels Production

Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman and Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer released the National Biofuels Action Plan (NBAP). The Plan, developed by an interagency board co-chaired by the Department Of Energy (DOE) and the USDA, outlines specific action areas and goals toward achieving renewable fuels production targets.

Secretary Bodman also announced additional steps the U.S. DOE is taking to support the development of a sustainable biofuels industry: research to enable increased use of biofuels, deployment of cellulosic biorefineries, and biofuels research and development. 

"The challenge is to find ways to go farther and to go faster - we must progress to the next level," said Secretary Bodman. "That means we must accelerate the development and deployment of next generation biofuels, fuels made from cellulose, algae and from other non-food products as well as fuels compatible with our existing energy infrastructure including renewable diesel, green gasoline and bio-butanol."

Increasing the Use of Biofuels

U.S. consumers already use E10, gasoline blended with 10 percent ethanol, in conventional vehicles and other engines. In order to meet the goals set forth in the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007, however, the U.S. will likely need to use higher blends of ethanol in conventional vehicles. To assess the potential impacts of higher blends of ethanol such as E15 and E20, gasoline blended with 15 and 20 percent ethanol, on conventional vehicles and other gasoline engines, DOE initiated a testing program in August 2007.

A preliminary report released today by DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, provides results available to date from testing E15 and E20 on 13 vehicles and 28 small non-road engines, including lawn equipment and generators. The information reported today, along with data that will be collected over the course of this broad test program, will help determine whether higher blends of ethanol can be effectively used in conventional vehicles.

The report showed that most of the regulated emissions with E15 and E20 were within the normal test variation, and no statistically-significant change was detected. While the data collected to date is encouraging, particularly with regard to regulated emissions, additional studies are needed on a wider range of vehicles and engines.