NEFI: Refinery Exemptions Hurt Biodiesel Market
Small refinery
exemptions by the Environmental Protection Agency threaten the market for
biodiesel and biodiesel-blended heating oil “aka Bioheat fuel,” the New England
Fuel Institute says in its NEFI Energy Online News.
EPA approved 31 small refinery exemptions (SREs) for
oil refiners in 2018, according to the Aug. 20 issue of the newsletter, known
as NEON. “These SREs threaten the market for biodiesel and biodiesel-blended
heating oil aka Bioheat fuel, as evidenced by several biodiesel plant closures
that had already occurred as a result of previous SRE approvals,” the
newsletter said.
Additional plant shutdowns have been reported,
the newsletter notes. World Energy announced on Aug. 16 that it would cease
production and furlough employees at its facilities in Harrisburg, Pa.; Rome,
Ga.; and Natchez, Miss. World Energy tied the decision to shutter operations
directly to the SRE waivers and their impact on biodiesel demand, the
newsletter says.
NEFI President and CEO Sean Cota said, “The
recent biodiesel plant shutdowns are just the latest example of how drastic
changes to the Renewable Fuel Standard damage the very industries that this
policy was created to support in the first place.”