The U.S. is ordering refiners to boost the use of biofuels such as corn-based ethanol, as the Biden administration tries to strike a balance between competing political and economic pressures while gasoline prices soar.
The Environmental Protection Agency is requiring refiners to mix 20.63 billion gallons of renewable fuels into gasoline and diesel this year, a 9.5% increase over last year’s target. In a final rule being posted online June 3, the agency also said it was retroactively paring the 2020 biofuel-blending quota to 17.13 billion gallons and setting the overall 2021 target at 18.84 billion gallons to reflect actual consumption.
