Biodiesel producers could be affected the most by new small refinery exemptions pending at the Environmental Protection Agency, based on an analysis of the extensive waiver action that took place under the previous Trump administration.
The number of petitions for exemptions from the Renewable Fuel Standard has “risen dramatically in recent months,” with 139 pending for compliance years 2016 through 2025, according to University of Illinois economist Scott Irwin.
Irwin analyzed exemption activity from December 2017 through January 2020 and found that the “blend rate fell swiftly and systematically during this period for biodiesel but not renewable diesel,” and never recovered.
The average blend rate for biodiesel fell to 3% at the beginning of the exemption activity and has not risen.
“It is possible that the new Trump administration will follow the playbook from the first administration and effectively write down future mandates through the retroactive awarding of large numbers of the pending SRE petitions. The previous episode with SREs during the first Trump administration provides a valuable test case regarding the potential for ‘demand destruction’ if this policy is repeated,” Irwin wrote.
Originally shared by AgriPulse. Title updated for clarity and purpose.
Notice: The Michigan Advanced Biofuels Coalition (MiABC) does not lobby or influence policy in any way. The policy interests of Michigan soybean farmers and biodiesel producers are supported by the Michigan Soybean Association and Clean Fuels Alliance America, respectively.