Leaders of health and environmental organizations came together last week with government officials and industry representatives at the first Air Quality and Alternative Transportation Fuel Forum, where they learned
about the important role biodiesel can play in reducing harmful emissions and improving air quality and human health.
Hosted by chapters of the American Lung Association, the forum was held at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
“The National Biodiesel Board (NBB) was honored to participate in this first-of-its-kind forum designed specifically to examine the role of alternative transportation fuels in improving air quality,” said Joe Jobe, CEO of NBB. “The bottom line is that biodiesel is spreading like wildfire as more public and private fleets, government agencies and individuals realize biodiesel’s environmental and health benefits.”
During the forum, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Acting Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation Bill Wehrum discussed the newly published proposed regulations implementing the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Passed as part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the RFS requires 4 billion gallons of renewable fuel usage in 2006, and will be phased up to at least 7.5 billion gallons by 2012. That is expected to displace almost 2 billion barrels of crude oil and reduce the outflow of dollars largely to foreign oil producers by $64.1 billion between 2005 and 2012. The proposed regulations would give refiners and other covered entities that blend biodiesel one-and-a-half times the base RFS credit. The adjusted credit is due to biodiesel’s high energy content.
Also at the forum, Dr. Robert McCormick, U.S. Department of Energy National Renewable Energy Laboratory principal engineer, presented the latest biodiesel emissions data, including:
A blend of 20 percent biodiesel (B20) can reduce particulate matter (PM) emissions by more than 20 percent based on heavy duty vehicle testing;
Biodiesel blends significantly reduce toxic compound emissions;
There are not sufficient data to say if B20 blends cause NOx, on average, to go up or down – but no change in NOx seems likely;
Vehicle testing data show no change in NOx – confirmed by DOD and other in-use studies;
Use of B20 can reduce life-cycle carbon dioxide emissions by 19 percent.
Steve Howell, NBB’s Technical Director, spoke to participants about how the biodiesel industry is working with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to integrate biodiesel into their cleaner-burning engines.
Biodiesel is a cleaner-burning alternative fuel that can be used in any diesel engine in pure form or blended with petroleum diesel. A domestically produced, renewable fuel, it can be made from any fat or vegetable oil, such as soybean oil. The use of biodiesel in a conventional diesel engine results in substantial reduction of unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and particulate matter.
Biodiesel has become America’s fastest growing alternative fuel according to the Department of Energy. Production tripled in 2005, reaching 75 million gallons. The industry is on track to sell at least 150 million gallons of biodiesel this year. More than 600 fleets use biodiesel, including government and military, commercial and school bus fleets.