BIODIESEL FUEL * USA - Feds examine usage

For the environment, many experts believe that increased biofuels production could impair water quality, reduce water availability, degrade air and soil quality, and hurt wildlife habitat

Washington,DC,USA -eTrucker, by Jill Dunn -10 Oct 2009: -- A federal report suggests Congress should consider requiring a strategy to measure all stages of biodiesel production and if a tax credit should be revised... The investigative arm of Congress, the General Accountability Office, recently released a biodiesel report. In 2007, Congress expanded the Renewable Fuel Standard, requiring increasing use of ethanol and other biofuels, from 9 billion gallons in 2008 to 36 billion gallons in 2022... The GAO indicated the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency should develop a strategy to assess lifecycle (cultivation, harvest, transport, conversion, storage, and use) environmental effects of increased biofuels production... The agency reported that many experts said biofuels production has contributed to increases in crop prices, livestock and poultry feed and, to a lesser extent, food. This trend may continue as the RFS expands... For the environment, many experts believe that increased biofuels production could impair water quality, reduce water availability, degrade air and soil quality, and hurt wildlife habitat. But the extent of these effects is uncertain and could be mitigated... (Photo from federalsustainability: Baca Pump)