(January 31, 2013) WASHINGTON — In response to the release today of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) volume standards for 2013, Brooke Coleman, executive director of the Advanced Ethanol Council (AEC) released the following statement:

“The advanced ethanol industry appreciates U.S. EPA’s due diligence on getting to the right number on cellulosic biofuels. The cellulosic biofuels industry is just breaking through at commercial scale with the most innovative and cleanest liquid fuel in the world. U.S. EPA worked hard to ensure that the cellulosic biofuels volume standard for 2013 would be tied directly to the commercial production of cellulosic biofuels expected to come online this year. While weaning the United States off of its addiction to foreign oil is not easy, the volume standards proposed today will continue to provide advanced biofuel investors and innovators with a predictable and durable path forward in that effort. U.S. EPA’s acknowledgement of the Brazil situation underscores the need to knock down the ethanol blend wall quickly, so that we are not protecting 90 percent of the market exclusively for fossil fuels. The RFS is one the most, if not the most forward-looking and intelligent energy programs ever enacted in the United States. We look forward to finalizing these targets as quickly as possible to provide our investors and fuel producers with the certainty they need to meet the RFS.”