During a virtual Earth Day summit with other world leaders, President Joe Biden pledged to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030.
A DTN article says biofuel groups are relieved after the president’s plan talked about very low carbon, new generation renewable fuels to help achieve rapid emission reductions in both the auto fleet and aviation. Biofuel groups had expressed concern that the president’s infrastructure plan relied too heavily on electric vehicles.
Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says the reality is the country will be using combustion engines for some time into the future.
“We know that biofuels have a better greenhouse gas impact or footprint than petroleum-based fuels,” Vilsack says. “To the extent that we can increase our biofuel blends, that’s going to take us closer to our reduction goals.”
Renewable Fuels Association CEO Geoff Cooper says biofuels have already made a significant impact on carbon reduction, lowering emissions by almost one billion tons since 2008.
Brian Jennings, CEO of the American Coalition for Ethanol, says the initiative could potentially expand biofuel markets around the globe for American producers.
“Other countries have initiated national ethanol policies as a part of their initiatives to decarbonize transportation fuels, and American biofuel producers are ready to play a much bigger role in meeting the targets domestically and around the world,” Jennings says.