Washington – December 19th is the one-year anniversary of the signing of the Energy Security and Independence Act (EISA) which included a section -- the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) – requiring the use of ethanol and other renewable fuels to reduce dependence on foreign oil.

In response to this landmark legislation, the American biofuels industry has expanded ethanol production capacity from 6.9 billion gallons in 2007 to over 10 billion gallons today. Ethanol represents more than 7% of the nation’s gasoline supply and can be found in more than 70% of gasoline gallons sold in the US. And, as the only viable alternative transportation fuel to gasoline today, ethanol is helping reduce our dependence on foreign oil and keeping here at home more of the money Americans used to send to unfriendly regimes around the world.

“The RFS provides an important platform for the incoming Obama Administration,” said Bob Dinneen, President of the Renewable Fuels Association. “President-elect Obama’s green jobs and green energy agenda are a perfect fit with expanding America’s production of the only green fuel that is reducing foreign oil dependence and global warming emissions today,” Dinneen continued.

Dinneen stated that “the contribution of an expanding ethanol industry to the US economy is significant, particularly in the current economic climate.” The production and use of 6.5 billion gallons of homegrown ethanol last year alone added more than $45 billion to the national GDP, helped create more than 238,000 green jobs, and contributed some $12 billion to the bottom lines of America’s households.

In addition, the RFS has provided a critical boost to the production of ethanol from wood chips, switch grass, municipal solid waste and other forms of plant material, i.e. cellulosic ethanol. The specific requirements for renewable fuels from feedstocks other than grain are providing security to investors putting up the capital to bring cellulosic ethanol technologies to the marketplace. These provisions, together with unprecedented requirements for greenhouse gas emissions reductions, make the RFS the most pragmatic, yet aggressive, step the US has taken to reduce petroleum use and address climate change.

“Every American ethanol producer is hard at work reducing their carbon footprint, improving the efficiency of their biorefinery operations, and investing in innovative technologies to convert cellulose to ethanol. Although these are tough economic times for America’s manufacturing sector, we are confident that the energy and economic stimulus policies of the incoming Obama administration will encourage the production of biofuels, create a more energy efficient economy and build on the success of the Energy Security and Independence Act,” Dinneen concluded.

On December 17th, the Energy Information Agency stated in its “Annual Energy Outlook 2009” that imports of fuel mostly in the form of oil will account for just 40% of the nation’s consumption by 2025. Because oil imports are used largely for the production of liquid transportation fuels like gasoline, and not for power generation, the impact of ethanol and other renewable fuels is significant. Last year, the production and use of 6.5 billion gallons of homegrown ethanol displaced 228 million barrels of imported oil and resulted in $16 billion spent here at home instead of being sent to foreign oil producers.

In addition, the EIA stated that America’s ethanol industry would not meet the cellulosic requirement of the RFS by 2022. The EIA, by its nature, is confined to analyzing the situation at present and cannot take into account the speed with which America’s ethanol industry is innovating.

“The Renewable Fuels Standard is an ambitious target and one America’s ethanol industry is more than capable of meeting,” said Dinneen. “The investments being made and research being conducted at the private and public sector level will ensure this industry rises to meet this challenge.”