EESI’s Jetta Wong Testifies Before Congress About the Renewable Fuel Standard

In testimony before the US Congress on July 24, 2008, Senior Policy Associate Jetta Wong of the Environmental and Energy Study Institute’s (EESI) Sustainable Biomass and Energy Program discussed the definition of renewable biomass in the federal Renewable Fuel Standard and its impact on forests and the cellulosic biofuel industry. The hearing was held before the House Committee on Agriculture’s Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy, and Research.

EESI believes that the rapidly escalating pace of global climate change is the single most serious challenge facing the world today. Congress has begun to address climate change in several pieces of legislation, including the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 orEISA (P.L. 110-140) and the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-234). EISA substantially increases the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), calling for the production of 36 billion gallons of renewable fuel by 2022 with specific requirements for greenhouse gas reductions. Within the 36 billion gallon mandate, 21 billion gallons must come from advanced biofuels, which means renewable fuel other than ethanol derived from corn starch. Additionally, there is a carve-out within the advanced biofuels mandate that 16 billion gallons of cellulosic biofuel be derived from ‘renewable biomass.’ Unfortunately, the definition of ‘renewable biomass’ included in the law deems several feedstocks ineligible, including thinning materials and woody residues from federal forests, some woody feedstocks from private forests, and a wide array of feedstocks from municipal solid waste.

Key points from Ms. Wong’s testimony:

* Renewable fuels are important to our climate and energy security strategy. They are reducing our dependence on foreign oil, reducing the cost of gasoline at the pump, and if produced sustainably, reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
* Production of renewable fuels from low-value materials, such as woody biomass and municipal solid waste, reduces the pressure to develop feedstocks on sensitive land.
* Renewable fuel facilities provide a market for low-value material produced through forest management practices.
* Abundant sources of woody biomass in the west can increase the distribution of liquid transportation fuels across the country. This will help to meet the large fuel markets of the west while further securing our energy supply.
* Some mill residues, woody materials and Municipal Solid Waste are excluded from the definition, even though they are a low-value feedstock that several companies are investigating and which can reduce the pressure to develop feedstocks on sensitive land.
* Confusing or varying definitions included in public law create risk, limit innovation, and ultimately reduce the use of a feedstock which otherwise can pose disposal problems.
* A variety of stakeholders overwhelmingly support a broadening of feedstocks that could be eligible for the RFS. Specifically, low-value woody biomass sustainably harvested from both federal and private lands should be included.

Cellulosic biofuels can be produced from a highly diverse array of feedstocks, allowing every region of the country to be a potential producer of this fuel. (Cellulose is found in all plant matter.) As a result, support for cellulosic biofuels has brought together a broad array of constituents including environmentalists, farmers, national security experts, industry, and religious leaders. Unquestionably, the production of renewable fuels needs to be done in a way that sequesters carbon and enhances natural resources, including soils, water supply and native habitats. Production of renewable feedstocks should not be deemed to be in competition with the goals of sustainable agriculture or forestry. In fact, there are opportunities for renewable fuel and energy production to aid conservation efforts and environmental sustainability beyond those associated conventional agriculture, forestry or fossil fuel production and consumption.