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Townhall
Finance
Another
Made Up Mandate on Energy
that Doesn't Exist
by Marita Noon
Requiring
the citizens of the
kingdom to purchase something that doesn’t exist, and then fining them
for not
doing it sounds more like the behavior of a tinhorn dictator than the
actions
of a global superpower—but then, maybe the “superpower” status has led
the US
government to believe that it can “let the wish be father to the
thought.”
Perhaps
Congress, the authors of
the Clean Air Act, and, more specifically, the Environmental Protection
Agency
(EPA)—and even biofuel lobbyists—have attended too many motivational
seminars
in which they were taught: “If you can dream it, then you can achieve
it.”
The
dream to “achieve” is
cellulosic biofuel or ethanol—which has an admirable goal of producing
a
renewable transportation fuel without impacting the world’s food
supply.
Different from corn- or sugar-based ethanol—which is technologically
achievable
(with questionable benefits)—cellulosic ethanol is made from wood
chips,
switchgrass, and agricultural waste, such as corn cobs.
The
problem is the dream doesn’t
match reality.
Through
the Clean Air Act, the EPA
can mandate a set volume of cellulosic biofuels that refiners must
blend into
gasoline based on “the projected volume available.” In 2007, the Energy
Independence and Security Act (EISA) established annual renewable fuel
volume
targets. The “targets” increase each year to reach 36 billion gallons
by 2022.
The EISA’s original cellulosic biofuel expectation for 2013 was 1
billion
gallons.
The
targets gave birth to a new
cellulosic ethanol industry. Thanks to the government mandates,
start-ups such
as Range Fuels and Cello Energy were born. They cranked out press
releases
touting a potential for millions of gallons of the biofuel. Based on
optimistic
projections aimed at attracting investors, the EPA set its targets…
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