Legislating Biofuels in 

the United States

Wendy Clark

National Renewable Energy 

Laboratory

Golden, Colorado, USA

2008 SAE Biofuels Specifications 

and Performance Symposium

July 7-9, 2008, Paris

NREL PR-540-43445
Introduction

• NREL: U.S. Department of Energy’s primary R&D 

laboratory for energy efficiency, renewable energy 

technologies

• NREL Center for Transportation Technologies & 

Systems (CTTS)

– Develop advanced vehicle and fuel technologies, helps to 

move them from R&D to markets

– Collaborate on R&D with other agencies, public and private 

organizations, and industry

• CTTS Fuels Performance Group

– Evaluates fuel chemistry at the fuel-engine interface

– Examines performance and emissions impacts
Why Legislate Biofuels?

• Plentiful U.S. biomass resources: energy crops, 

agricultural and forestry residues, and others provide 

a domestic fuel source

• U.S. “Billion Ton Study” (2005) estimates 1.3 billion 

tons of feedstock annually, containing energy 

equivalent of 3.5 billion barrels of oil

• Develop a strategy to reduce 

U.S. petroleum consumption

and increase energy security

• Reduce greenhouse gas 

(GHG) emissions
Background

• Alternative Fuels Motor Act of 1988: Calls for demonstrations, 

provides credits for purchasing alternative-fuel vehicles (AFVs)

• Energy Policy Acts of 1992 and 2005: Establishes programs for 

government fleets, renewable fuels standards, tax incentives

• Executive Orders (1991-2007): 

Use AFVs in federal fleets, reduce 

petroleum use, increase alternative

fuels use

• January 2007 Presidential 

State of the Union Address: 

Reduce gasoline demand 

by 20% ( 36 bgy of alternative fuels)

by 2017 (“20 in 10”)
New Legislation: EISA

• Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007

signed by President Bush in December 2007; takes effect 

in January 2009

• EISA biofuels provisions include Renewable Fuel 

Standard: 

– Mandates U.S. increase sales of biofuel to 36 bgy by 

2022 (2006 world production: ~13,500 million gal/yr)

– Places 15-bgy cap on corn (starch-based) ethanol to 

meet 2022 target

– Calls for 21 bgy by 2022 from advanced or cellulosic 

biofuels (e.g., from corn stover, switchgrass, wood 

chips, fast-growing trees, other feedstocks) 
EISA (continued)

• All new biofuel production facilities built in January 

2008 and beyond must reduce GHG emissions 

(compared with a baseline) by 

– 20% for conventional biofuels (e.g., corn ethanol)

– 50% for advanced biofuels (e.g., 

sugar ethanol) and biomass-based

diesel fuel

– 60% for cellulosic biofuels made 

from non-food/feed feedstocks
EISA (continued)

• To qualify as renewable fuels, biofuel feedstocks 

must be grown on land cleared for cultivation before 

December 2007

• Bars land-use changes in the US that are (or could 

be) detrimental to agriculture, grazing, and/or the 

environment
EISA (continued)

• Increases corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) 

requirement to 36 mpg (15.3 km/L) by 2020

• Allows credits for flex-fuel vehicles, AFVs, and 

electric vehicle technologies

• Calls for more federal R&D in optimized engines, 

energy storage, and lightweight materials; feasibility 

studies for E85 and pipelines
EISA (continued)

• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

must perform environmental impact 

assessments of biofuels production every 3 

years, covering water, soil, air quality, 

biodiversity, ecosystem health

• EPA has authority to mitigate 

any air quality impacts

of renewable fuels (similar 

to authority for fossil fuels)
EISA Sustainability Issues

• Mandates minimum reductions in life-cycle GHG 

emissions from renewable fuels

• Discourages use of food and feed crops as 

feedstocks; encourages use of other feedstocks (e.g., 

switchgrass)

• Permits use of cultivated land, 

bars land-use changes in US

• Addresses environmental 

and food crop issues
Farm Bill Provisions: Biofuels 

• U.S. Congress passed new farm bill in May: Food, 

Conservation and Energy Act of 2008

• Provides for grants of up to 30% of cost to develop 

and build demonstration biorefineries for advanced 

(e.g., cellulosic) biofuels

• Establishes new credit for producing cellulosic 

ethanol of $1.01/gallon (applies only to fuels 

produced and used in United States)

• Provides funds for “Rural Energy for America 

Program”

• Continues Biomass Research and Development 

Initiative sponsored by Departments of Energy and 

Agriculture
Where We Are Now

• Almost all of today’s U.S. ethanol supply (about 6.5-bgy) is 

produced from corn 

• Could reach 12 bgy in a few years, but 

capped at 15 bgy by EISA

• All U.S. cars can run on gasoline

containing 10% ethanol E10;

• R&D underway on E15/E20

• Flex-fuel vehicles can run on E85

or any mixture of gasoline and ethanol

• Cellulosic ethanol is now produced 

in pilot and start-up plants

• U.S. biodiesel production capacity

has grown to ~500 mgy (per NBB); 

EISA mandates 1 bgy by 2012
Where We Want to Be

• To produce 36 bgy of 

affordable renewable fuels in the 

United States by 2022, we need 

to develop the most promising 

technologies

• The technologies can include 

any or all of these: cellulosic 

ethanol, biodiesel, green diesel, 

bio-butanol, syngas liquids, biooil derivatives, hydrogen from 

biomass, diesel and other fuels 

from microalgae, hydrocarbons 

from carbohydrates
U.S. DOE Activities

• Support R&D in many types and 

uses of biofuels, often with 

industry partners

• Call for reducing costs of most 

efficient and promising options

• Analyze type and quantity of air 

emissions and seek most 

environmentally benign choices

• Analyze infrastructure 

opportunities, options, and 

issues 

• Could also work with EU on 

standards for uniform product 

quality
Fuels Research at NREL

• Investigates new fuels and lubricants 

meeting strict emission standards 

• Determines how fuel and lubricant 

properties affect emission controls 

• Investigates fuel property effects on 

engine durability, performance and 

emissions/emission controls

• Conducts R&D to expand operating 

range of high-efficiency, low-emission 

combustion engines using advanced 

fuels

• Works to overcome technical barriers to 

markets for new liquid fuels (e.g., 

biodiesel, Fischer-Tropsch diesel) and 

gaseous fuels (e.g., hydrogen)

• Conducts R&D in fuels for advanced 

combustion concepts in highly efficient, 

clean engines 
Acknowledgments

• Patrick Davis, Acting Manager of the Office of Vehicle 

Technologies Program, U.S. Department of Energy 

(DOE), Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy 

(EERE), and Joan Glickman of the DOE EERE Office 

of the Biomass Program, for funding this work.

• Kevin Stork, Team Leader for Fuel Technologies, 

DOE EERE Office of Vehicle Technologies Program, 

for his guidance and many contributions to this work.
Bibliography

• Energy Washington Week, “U.S. Eyes Joint Biofuel Standards with Europe Amid 

Food-Fuel Crisis,” 6 May 2008, http://energywashington.com. 

• Dale Gardner (NREL), “The Future of Energy – Field to Wheel,” presented at the 

SAE World Congress, 15 April 2008, prepared at the National Renewable 

Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado, USA.

• David J. Gelman (New West Technologies), “The Energy Independence and 

Security Act of 2007,” Clean Cities Webcast, 21 February 2008, 

www.eere.energy.gov/cleancities/toolbox/pdfs/gelman_webcast_21feb08.pdf.

• U.S. Department of Energy, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Advanced 

Vehicles and Fuels Research, www.nrel.gov/vehiclesandfuels/. 

• U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, 

Vehicle Technologies Program, Fuels and Lubricants, 

www.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesandfuels/technologies/fuels/index.html.

• U.S. Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, A Summary of Major 

Provisions, (P.L. 110-140, H.R. 6), http://energy.senate.gov/public/_files/

RL342941.pdf.

• U.S. House of Representatives, the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 

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http://agriculture.house.gov/inside/Legislation/110/FB/Conf/ConfOnePager.pdf.