EPA ponders biogenic emissions reporting

Ethanol Producer Magazine
September 2010
By Kris Bevill
Posted Sept. 20, 2010

The U.S. EPA is in the process of evaluating comments it received in response to a call for information regarding the inclusion of biogenic emissions when accounting for a facility’s total amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Earlier this year, the EPA finalized its Tailoring Rule, which set in motion the process of holding facilities accountable for GHG emissions in addition to pollutants already regulated by the agency. When the Tailoring Rule was initially proposed, the EPA exempted biogenic emissions—emissions that occur as a result of the combustion or decomposition of biological materials—from GHG accounting approaches. But when the final rule was announced, the EPA had reversed its stance and included those emissions in its accounting framework.

Hundreds of comments were submitted to the EPA offering opinion and technical information regarding this decision. Many comments were from concerned citizens, some who support exempting biogenic emissions and others who believe there is no such thing as a carbon-neutral emission. Representatives from affected sources, including landfills, wastewater treatment facilities, livestock management facilities and ethanol production facilities, also filed comments to argue that biogenic emissions have been historically excluded from GHG emission calculations and deviating from that standard would disrupt an internationally acceptable protocol.

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