Can plan based biofuels overcome sustainability concerns and enter US market?

Biofuels Digest
Jim Lane
May 18, 2012

In Washington, the Obama Administration will tussle shortly over the future of palm oil-based biofuels in the US. At issue: whether both direct and indirect land use change that is the result of palm’s expansion in Indonesia, should be enough to ban the otherwise climate-friendly feedstock from the US.

Palm producers are on notice to demonstrate a 20 percent reduction in fossil fuel emissions to qualify under the US renewable fuel standard—and sites like Care2.com are howling that the EPA is using 2003-era data to make its determination, contending that the recent performance of the palm industry in Indonesia is even worse.

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