http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61G5CP20100217 New rules on corn ethanol may hurt environment
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. corn growers expressed relief when the Obama administration unveiled new environmental rules that would boost use of corn-based biofuel, but green groups complained the guidelines may fill the air with nitrogen, a greenhouse gas viewed as more potent than carbon.
The Environmental Protection Agency unveiled what amounted to a tweaking of the national renewable fuel standard in early February, and still found that ethanol made from corn is still cleaner than conventional gasoline, dashing the hopes of some critics who opposed using food to create fuel.
The EPA's new assessment basically calls for corn ethanol output to rise from around 12 billion gallons this year to around 15 billion gallons annually starting around 2015, which the industry was already on track to reach regardless of agency's action.
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The aim of the renewable fuel target is to move the country toward more production of advanced biofuels from sources such as wood chips.
But corn ethanol, which consumes about a third of the U.S. corn crop, will still likely make up about 42 percent of the 36 billion gallon biofuel mandate in 2022 -- something that will continue to support farmer incomes and help boost demand fundamentals of commodity markets.
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