Yet Another Victory For The Bio-Fuels Industry

Once again, an oil refinery sued (and lost) because it had to deal with bio fuels. These lawsuits are frivolous and cost the tax payers probably more than what the law suits are about. Let’s face it, the use of bio-fuels is here to stay until another source of fuel can be found (and produced economically).

Monroe Energy sued that the high cost of RIN’s (Renewable Identification Numbers) should have been taken into account by the EPA when they set the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) level. Monroe Energy claimed that the EPA has too wide of “latitude” when setting the various standards. The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit basically said that the EPA can set the standards were they deem is feasible.

So what is and how does a RIN work? First off, the EPA set the standard for 2013; it said that 16.55 billion gallons of gas had to be mixed with biofuels. So, when the various refineries mix biofuel into regular gas, they get 1 credit per x-amount of gallons of blended fuel. Most refiners exceeded their quota so their extra credits (RIN’s) could be sold to refiners that fell short of their quota. The RIN’s became a tradable commodity and the cost of the RIN is now factored into the price of a gallon of gas.

What does this mean to us the consumers? According to Anne Steckel, vice president of federal affairs at the National Biodiesel Board, “The court’s decision today is only the latest in a long series of cases in which the courts have found that the RFS is a fair and reasonable program for achieving our national energy objectives, including promoting more advanced biofuel such as biodiesel.” In English please. Renewable sources of fuel such as biodiesel and ethanol are here to stay.

Not to worry though. Mechanic In A Bottle and Ethanol Shield are here to stay as well. Mechanic In A Bottle will clean your fuel system due to the effects of ethanol. And Ethanol Shield will keep your fuel system clean and gas/ethanol stabilized and free from the harmful effects of ethanol blended fuel.