Biodiesel’s Role in Improving Air Quality is Focus of Lung Association Forum
Forum Comes In Wake of Renewable Fuels Standard Announcement

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.– Leaders of health and environmental organizations came together today with government officials and industry representatives at the first Air Quality and Alternative Transportation Fuel Forum, where they learned about the important role biodiesel can play in reducing harmful emissions and improving air quality and human health. Hosted by American Lung Association of the District of Columbia, American Lung Association of the Upper Midwest and American Lung Association of the Southwest, the Forum was held at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.

“The National Biodiesel Board (NBB) was honored to participate in this first-of-its-kind forum designed specifically to examine the role of alternative transportation fuels in improving air quality,” said Joe Jobe, Chief Executive Officer of NBB. “The bottom line is that biodiesel is spreading like wildfire as more public and private fleets, government agencies and individuals realize biodiesel’s environmental and health benefits.”

During the Forum, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Acting Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation Bill Wehrum discussed the newly published proposed regulations implementing the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Passed as part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the RFS requires four billion gallons of renewable fuel usage in 2006, and will be phased up to at least seven and a half billion gallons by 2012. That is expected to displace almost 2 billion barrels of crude oil and reduce the outflow of dollars largely to foreign oil producers by $64.1 billion between 2005 and 2012. The proposed regulations, announced yesterday, would give refiners and other covered entities who blend biodiesel one-and-a-half times the base RFS credit. The adjusted credit is due to biodiesel’s high energy content.

Also at the Forum, Dr. Robert McCormick, U.S. Department of Energy National Renewable Energy Laboratory Principal Engineer, presented the latest biodiesel emissions data, including:

• A blend of 20 percent biodiesel (B20) can reduce particulate matter (PM) emissions by more than 20% based on heavy duty vehicle testing;


• Biodiesel blends significantly reduce toxic compound emissions;


• There are not sufficient data to say if B20 blends cause NOx, on average, to go up or down – but no change in NOx seems likely;


• Vehicle testing data show no change in NOx -- confirmed by DOD and other in-use studies;


• Use of B20 can reduce life-cycle carbon dioxide emissions by 19%.

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