The Environmental Protection Agency announced its final renewable fuel standard on Wednesday for U.S. vehicles, increasing the amount of biofuels that U.S. refiners must blend into their fuel mix over the next three years as part of its broader embrace of low-carbon fuels and effort to slash transportation emissions.
The new set rule increases biofuel blending volumes in a given compliance year to 20.94 billion gallons in 2023, 21.54 in 2024, and 22.33 in 2025, according to the EPA.
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That’s an increase to the agency’s previously proposed blending requirements in December, which targeted biofuel volumes of 20.82 billion in 2023, 21.87 billion in 2024, and 22.68 billion in 2025.
It’s also a 2.2% increase from the Biden administration’s biofuels blending mandate for 2022, which stood at just 20.63 billion gallons.
“From day one, EPA has been committed to the growth of renewable fuels that play a critical role in diversifying our country’s energy mix and combatting climate change, all while providing good paying jobs and economic benefits to communities across the country,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement Wednesday.
The final rule comes as the Biden administration has sought to slash greenhouse gas emissions, primarily from the transportation sector, which accounts for the single largest share of U.S. emissions, including by targeting that 50% of all new cars sold by 2030 be electric vehicles.
The administration has also touted the higher biofuels requirements as helping U.S. energy security by reducing the country's foreign oil imports.
Under the final rule, foreign oil imports would be reduced by up to 140,000 barrels of oil per day over the next three years, the EPA said.
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Meanwhile, the anticipated value of energy security will benefit the U.S. economy by up to $192 million per year during the three-year period, according to EPA estimates.
“Today’s final rule reflects our efforts to ensure stability of the program for years to come, protect consumers from high fuel costs, strengthen the rural economy, support domestic production of cleaner fuels, and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” Regan said.