Requests to Waive the Renewable Fuel Standard

This briefing examines the debate over whether the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should waive the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) following a severe heat wave and drought in the United States that reduced corn yields and increased prices. While livestock and poultry producers argue a waiver would lower corn prices and food costs, the document suggests that such a move could increase gasoline prices, heighten dependence on imported oil, and discourage investment in advanced biofuels.

• Extreme weather in 2012 significantly reduced the U.S. corn crop, with the USDA estimating a 13 percent decrease compared to 2011, falling to approximately 10.7 billion bushels from 12.4 billion bushels.
• The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) mandates a total of 36 billion gallons of renewable biofuel be blended into the U.S. fuel supply annually by 2022, with at least 21 billion gallons required to be 'advanced biofuels' not derived from cornstarch.
• The net amount of corn required to meet the 2013 RFS requirement of 13.8 billion gallons is approximately 3.4 billion bushels, which represents about 32 percent of the anticipated 2012 harvest.
• An RFS waiver may not provide immediate or significant price relief for livestock producers because refiners lack the short-term flexibility to change fuel formulas and have little incentive to reduce ethanol demand while ethanol futures remain cheaper than gasoline futures.
• Waiving the RFS could increase consumer costs at the pump and reduce energy security by increasing the need for imported petroleum-based gasoline to replace the displaced ethanol.
• Policy uncertainty regarding the RFS may hinder the commercialization of advanced biofuels; the USDA estimates that over 500 new biorefineries, costing up to $168 billion, are needed to meet the 2022 advanced biofuel requirements.

APA

Stowe, N. (2012). Requests to Waive the Renewable Fuel Standard. Environmental and Energy Study Institute. https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/issue-brief-requests-to-waive-the-renewable-fuel-standard

Chicago

Stowe, Ned. Requests to Waive the Renewable Fuel Standard. Environmental and Energy Study Institute, 2012. https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/issue-brief-requests-to-waive-the-renewable-fuel-standard.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Stowe |first1=Ned |title=Requests to Waive the Renewable Fuel Standard |publisher=Environmental and Energy Study Institute |date=20 September 2012 |url=https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/issue-brief-requests-to-waive-the-renewable-fuel-standard |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stowe2012requests, author = {Stowe, Ned}, title = {{Requests to Waive the Renewable Fuel Standard}}, institution = {Environmental and Energy Study Institute}, year = {2012}, month = sep, url = {https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/issue-brief-requests-to-waive-the-renewable-fuel-standard}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }