During a congressional hearing today in Washington, D.C. focused on the future of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Anne Steckel, National Biodiesel Board (NBB) vice president of federal affairs, shared biodiesel’s success story and stressed that the industry is delivering the majority of advanced biofuels under the energy program and is poised to do even more.

“Biodiesel and renewable diesel are the unsung heroes of the RFS Advanced Biofuel program,” Steckel told the Energy and Power Subcommittee focused on RFS implementation issues. “If you take away one thing from my testimony today, I hope it is the following – while there are certainly areas that could be improved, the RFS has made tremendous progress in developing Advanced Biofuels and delivering them to American consumers. Biodiesel and renewable diesel have made up the vast majority of Advanced Biofuels in the RFS, including filling more than 90 percent of the category in the last two years.”

Steckel called on the EPA to strengthen its recently announced RFS proposal, which includes a biodiesel volume of 2.1 billion gallons in 2018, just 100 million gallons higher than the 2017 volume finalized last year. The industry already appears poised to exceed 2.1 billion gallons of RFS production this year, she noted.

“There remains significant untapped production capacity on the ground today, and biodiesel producers across the country will tell you they stand ready to invest and expand and hire with strong, stable policy,” her testimony reads. “However, we continue to believe the agency is underestimating the volume of biodiesel that can be delivered.”