The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Renewable
Identification Numbers, RINs, are causing the refining industry a lot of
grief and the American public a lot of money. If nothing changes, the
grief and the money wasted could grow rapidly, damaging the economy and
family budgets. RINs are a byproduct of the Renewable Fuels Standard
that mandates a certain amount of biofuels (e.g. ethanol) to be produced
and used by refiners each year. The purpose of RINs is to track biofuel
sales. But, fake RINs have become a problem and refiners are caught in
the middle. Refiners pay for the purchase of mandated biofuels via a RIN
only to have it turn out fake and then be fined by EPA for not using
the required amount of biofuels.
History of Biofuel Mandates and RIN Development
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 established the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), which mandated the use of at least 4 billion gallons of biofuels in 2006 and at least 7.5 billion gallons by 2012 to be blended into transportation fuels. Two years later, the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 vastly expanded the mandate to 9 billion gallons of biofuels in 2008, increasing to 36 billion gallons by 2022. It also stipulated that the 36 billion gallons should consist of not more than 15 billion gallons of corn-based ethanol and at least 16 billion gallons of cellulosic biofuels with additional requirements for other advanced biofuels.[i] Thus, fuel blenders must incorporate minimum volumes of biofuels in their transportation fuel sales regardless of market prices, or be fined. The fines are assessed on the refiner or blender, not the producer of the biofuel.
Read more: http://www.productsandpower.org/2012/07/09/607/
History of Biofuel Mandates and RIN Development
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 established the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), which mandated the use of at least 4 billion gallons of biofuels in 2006 and at least 7.5 billion gallons by 2012 to be blended into transportation fuels. Two years later, the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 vastly expanded the mandate to 9 billion gallons of biofuels in 2008, increasing to 36 billion gallons by 2022. It also stipulated that the 36 billion gallons should consist of not more than 15 billion gallons of corn-based ethanol and at least 16 billion gallons of cellulosic biofuels with additional requirements for other advanced biofuels.[i] Thus, fuel blenders must incorporate minimum volumes of biofuels in their transportation fuel sales regardless of market prices, or be fined. The fines are assessed on the refiner or blender, not the producer of the biofuel.
Read more: http://www.productsandpower.org/2012/07/09/607/
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