The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which administers the RFS, is expected to unveil proposed changes to the policy sometime this year, defining new winners and losers in a multibillion-dollar market for credits, known as RINs, that has supported corn growers and biofuels producers for more than a decade.
The Biden White House has been an unapologetic supporter of the EV industry, pinning much of its climate hopes on getting more electric cars on the road. The bipartisan infrastructure bill that passed last year included $7.5 billion for new EV charging stations and Biden has sought to reinstate expired tax credits to help consumers pay for new vehicles.
The Biden EPA has had additional meetings on the topic with Tesla, groups representing biogas producers like Waste Management Inc (WM.N) and Republic Services Inc (RSG.N) and charging station companies like ChargePoint Holdings Inc (CHPT.N), according to the documents.
Matthew Nelson, a lobbyist with Electrify America, a charging company trade group, wrote to the EPA in October and told them that e-RINs would do more to enable Biden's 2030 goals of 500,000 charging stations and 50% EV sales than any other policy, according to the emails. He added that charging companies need the credit to compete with gasoline.
The United States currently has about 48,000 charging stations, concentrated around coastal regions, according to Department of Energy data.
Biogas producers, like landfills, also want credits, arguing they provide renewable fuel to the grid that generates the power for electric vehicles.
Biogas-derived electricity is already eligible for generating RINs. But the EPA has never approved an application from the industry because it has yet to determine the best way to trace the power entering EVs back to its origin.
In 2020, landfill gas generated about 10 billion kilowatt hours of electricity, or 0.3% of U.S. utility-scale power.
“We feel that implementing the electricity program in the RFS aligns well with the Biden administration's climate goals,” Carrie Annand, executive director of the Biomass Power Association, wrote to the EPA, according to the documents.
Leave a Reply