Press release:

RFS program not working needs overhaul

Bill Bush | 202.682.8114 | bushw@api.orgShareThis

WASHINGTON, August 8, 2012 – API Downstream Group Director Robert Greco told reporters this morning that the nation’s renewable fuel standard program isn’t working and needs to be revamped and better managed to ensure its long term viability:

    “The RFS program has been the most important mechanism for bringing biofuels into the nation’s energy mix. But it is being undermined by impractical requirements and bad agency decisions.

    “The biofuels volume requirements established by Congress will soon push concentrations above the safe E10 level. Volumes will grow from more than 13 billion gallons this year to 36 billion gallons in 2022.

If the RFS is fully implemented, it would raise the per gallon ethanol concentration in gasoline to an average exceeding 20 percent.

    “To increase the amount of biofuels blended in gasoline, EPA has approved the sale of E15 for a portion of the nation’s vehicle fleet. It approved E15, even though it knew or should have known of the existence of compatibility problems and even though it knew engine testing was ongoing.

    “EPA also has still not resolved the problem of fraudulent renewable fuel credits purchased by some refiners. EPA told refiners the bad credits were the companies’ problem and they’d have to purchase more RINs, potentially adding more costs to making gasoline. This is a problem the agency could have, and should have, fixed by now. Instead, the situation has introduced uncertainty in the RINs market and hurt some smaller biofuels producers.

    “Finally, EPA continues the bizarre requirement that refiners blend cellulosic ethanol into gasoline, even though no one is producing any for commercial use. Nevertheless, EPA has ruled that refiners must purchase credits for this non-existent fuel. Requiring refiners to pay for a fuel that doesn’t exist is regulatory absurdity. It drives up costs and does nothing to increase use of biofuels. It may even undermine public confidence in the RFS program itself.”

API represents more than 500 oil and natural gas companies, leaders of a technology-driven industry that supplies most of America’s energy, supports 9.2 million U.S. jobs and 7.7 percent of the U.S. economy, delivers more than $86 million a day in revenue to our government, and, since 2000, has invested more than $2 trillion in U.S. capital projects to advance all forms of energy, including alternatives.

Press release:

Unworkable RFS law needs overhaul, API tells Congress

Bill Bush | 202.682.8114 | bushw@api.orgShareThis

WASHINGTON, July 10, 2012 – API President and CEO Jack Gerard told a congressional subcommittee today that while America’s Renewable Fuels Standard law had increased use of ethanol and other biofuels, implementation of the law’s requirements was becoming increasingly difficult and could hurt consumers. The volume requirements in the law could soon require concentrations of ethanol in gasoline above levels known to be safe.

    “This would present an unacceptable risk to American car owners, who have invested billions of dollars in vehicles that were designed, built, and warranted to operate on a maximum 10 percent ethanol blend,” Gerard said in testimony delivered to the House Subcommittee on Energy and Power. “It also would put at risk billions of dollars of gasoline station equipment in thousands of retail outlets across America, most owned by small independent businesses.

    “Biofuels are now in almost all gasoline. While API supports the continued, appropriate use of ethanol and other renewable fuels, the Renewable Fuels Standard law has become increasingly unrealistic, unworkable, and a threat to consumers. It needs an overhaul.”

    Almost 15 billion gallons of biofuels will be blended in transportation fuels this year, and that number must double by 2020 under the law’s requirements.

    Gerard said he also was concerned that EPA had insisted the industry pay penalty fees to the agency for failing to blend cellulosic ethanol in gasoline, even though no cellulosic ethanol is commercially manufactured. “Mandating the use of fuels that do not exist is absurd on its face and inexcusably bad public policy,” Gerard said. He also called on EPA to resolve the problem of fraudulent renewable fuel credits, which have been sold to refiners under a program created by EPA.

    API represents more than 500 oil and natural gas companies, leaders of a technology-driven industry that supplies most of America's energy, supports 9.2 million U.S. jobs and 7.7 percent of the U.S. economy, delivers more than $86 million a day in revenue to our government, and, since 2000, has invested more than $2 trillion in U.S. capital projects to advance all forms of energy, including alternatives.

Making Energy Data More Accessible

From the blog of the U.S. Dept. of Energy:

Taking Steps to Make Energy Data More Accessible

February 7, 2012 

Matthew Loveless

Data Integration Specialist, Office of Public Affairs

What does this mean for me?

• Energy data is becoming more open and accessible, and that means better data access for software developers.

From economic projections and fuel costs to renewable energy potential estimates and power outage reports, the Energy Department produces vast amounts of data. These data are most valuable when they are being used to produce reports, analyses, tools, and applications, and so it is no surprise that we are always looking for ways to make energy data more accessible.

That is why we’re excited about the growth of tools for making energy data available via Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). APIs allow web and mobile applications to access updated energy data in a variety of formats, and often simplify the process of developing a data-driven application.

The Socrata Open Data API (SODA) is one of these new tools. Data.gov makes this service available to federal agencies, providing a platform for interacting with data online and connecting that data to applications via the API. We’re just getting started with hosting energy data on SODA, but one example is the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) State Energy Data System. You can access the SODA version here, and you should also check out the extensive analysis and documentation provided by EIA on their website.

OpenEI is another example of Energy Department web services, this one sponsored by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. OpenEI hosts a variety of U.S. and international energy data, with a focus on renewables. In particular, OpenEI contains a database of incentives and policies that encourage renewable energy generation and energy efficiency, and this database is available to developers.  For example, the team at DSIRE collects this information, but it also appears on Energy.gov via OpenEI’s data services.

The national labs are also involved in efforts to make Energy Department data more accessible. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has launched their Developer Network to help software developers access and use renewable energy and alternative fuel data. Any aspiring coder can sign up for an API key and start using NREL’s first-rate data on electricity, solar energy, or alternative fuels.

As the year goes on, we’ll be making more and more data sets available via these services, continuing our mission to make Energy Department data as open, and as useful, as possible.