Unresolved biofuel policy issues facing next US president

NEW YORK, Nov 08 (Reuters): Big questions remain over how a Joe Biden administration might administer the nation's biofuel law, the US Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), and the stakes are high for both the farming and oil refining industries.

Here are the main issues:

Under the RFS, refiners are required to blend billions of gallons of ethanol and other biofuels into their fuel each year or buy credits from those who do.

Farmers support the regulation because it has created a huge market for corn, but the oil industry opposes it because it represents increased regulatory compliance costs for refiners and competition for fossil fuels.

After the coronavirus outbreak, US fuel demand tanked and has since struggled to recover, leading the refining industry and its political backers to ask that the RFS requirements for 2020 be relaxed. If granted, that would allow refiners to hand in credits that account for less than the total 2020 biofuel volume mandate when they come due next spring.