The final carbon footprint model to decide eligibility for make-or-break tax credits for ethanol in Sustainable Aviation Fuel could be out in days.
The model known as GREET will determine what the future of the ethanol industry looks like. Will it be limited to a possibly declining motor fuel market or will it as much as triple with aviation use? Renewable Fuels Association head Geoff Cooper is anxiously awaiting an answer from EPA and the energy and agriculture departments.
Cooper says, 鈥淭he last thing we鈥檝e heard from USDA on that is now they鈥檙e saying, hopefully, we see this modified GREET model by the end of the month. So, we went from March first to maybe, the beginning of April, and now we鈥檙e hearing, it鈥檚 more likely the end of April.鈥
Cooper says timing is key for investment in a possible 36 billion-gallon aviation fuel market by 2050. He says, 鈥淭hat鈥檚 another issue where things are frozen up right now. And nobody is moving in the marketplace until there鈥檚 some clarity and certainty around how that鈥檚 all going to play out.鈥
As for early reports relayed by Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, the government may impose tough-to-screen growing conditions on feedstock corn and soybeans, Cooper says, 鈥淲e don鈥檛 know鈥 don鈥檛 think we really have the details yet from USDA or from the administration on how they鈥檙e going to handle tracking of feedstocks and monitoring of farming practices and things like that. Those are some of the important details that we鈥檙e waiting on.鈥
Senator Grassley says if reports he got recently are correct, it鈥檒l either be easy to violate the formula at the grain elevator or there won鈥檛 be enough feedstock for SAF, needed to combat greenhouse gas emissions.
Story courtesy of NAFB News Service and Berns Bureau Washington/by Matt Kaye
