U.S. Senator Susan Collins has joined Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Joseph Lieberman (I/D-CT) in introducing bipartisan legislation to promote the development of alternative fuels in order to reduce America’s consumption of gasoline and to create a low carbon renewable fuels performance standard.
“As the most forested state in the nation, Maine has tremendous potential to produce environmentally friendly fuels made from wood waste. The University of Maine is leading the way in developing these technologies. I believe that Maine's resources and scientific know-how, in combination with the renewable fuels standard and $275 million in targeted funds provided by this legislation, will lead to a new generation of biofuels that will power our automobiles, help to wean us off our addiction to foreign oil, and combat climate change."
The Advanced Clean Fuels Act of 2007:
• Significantly increases the amount of advanced clean fuels in the nation’s fuel supply by requiring increasing volumes of fuels that have low greenhouse gas emissions and that are produced in an environmentally sound way.
• EPA is required to increase the Renewable Fuels Standard from 12 billion gallons in 2011 to as much as 35 billions gallons by 2025.
o To count towards the Renewable Fuels Standard, fuel must be at least 20% better than gasoline in terms of greenhouse gas emissions.
o The Renewable Fuels Standard would also require increasing volumes of fuels that are at least 50% and 75% better than gasoline in terms of greenhouse gas emissions.
• The National Academy of Sciences will periodically study the environmental and other impacts, and the energy independence implications of increasing the amount of advanced clean fuels in the transportation fuel supply.
• The amount of advanced clean fuels will increase, based on the schedule in the bill. As the volume of clean fuels increases, EPA will use its authorities to address any significant environmental effects in order to protect our air, water, and natural resources.
• EPA also must establish an Advanced Clean Fuel Performance Standard that gradually reduces greenhouse gas emissions from the entire transportation fuel supply by as much as 10% of 2008 levels by 2020.
• The bill promotes the use of the most suitable lands for clean fuels development.
• The bill would establish a green renewable fuel labeling program modeled on Energy Star to spotlight renewable fuels that result in 50% lower greenhouse gas emissions than gasoline and that are produced using best environmental management practices.
• Would authorize $275 million over five years for research to facilitate the development of sustainable markets and technologies to produce and use woody biomass and other cellulosic biomass for the production of thermal and electric energy, biofuels, and bioproducts.