By BRIAN SCHEID
In a matter of years, a good portion of every gallon you pump into your tank at a Pennsylvania gas station might not be gasoline at all.
Under legislation Gov. Ed Rendell signed into law this month, there’s a new requirement that every gallon of gasoline and diesel fuel must contain a percentage of ethanol and biodiesel.
The law will help the environment and the state’s economy and create thousands of new jobs, Rendell has said.
“Here in Pennsylvania, we spend approximately $30 billion to purchase liquid fuels from beyond our border,” Rendell said in a statement. “It’s time we keep more of that money at home and invest in our biofuel manufacturers, communities and transportation industry.”
But the legislation has been met with mixed reactions from environmentalists, some who claim the new biofuels might cause more pollution than gasoline does.
“Just because it’s not oil doesn’t make it the answer,” said Nathan Willcox, an energy and clean air advocate for PennEnvironment, a statewide environmental advocacy group.
Under the new law, the state will require that diesel fuel sold at gas stations must contain a percentage of biodiesel once instate production reaches certain levels. For example, if the 400 million gallons of biodiesel is produced in Pennsylvania, diesel fuel sold here must contain 20 percent biodiesel. All gasoline sold must contain 10 percent ethanol once production of cellulosic ethanol production, which is derived from sugars trapped in leaves and stalks of plants, reaches 100 million gallons a year.
Pennsylvania has capacity to produce 60 million gallons of biodiesel per year.
Rendell also signed a state Senate bill that will provide $5.3 million to Pennsylvania biodiesel producers and create a 75 cent per gallon subsidy, which will be capped at $1.9 million per producer.
State Sen. Tommy Tomlinson, R-6, the prime sponsor of the Senate bill, said the new law will help the environment, since biofuels are cleaner burning, and help reduce Pennsylvania’s dependence on foreign oil.
“This is just the beginning,” Tomlinson said Wednesday.
Rendell pointed to statistics from the U.S. Department of Energy that claim that biodiesel reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent.
However, according to a new report from PennEnvironment, biodiesel, if produced from soybeans, is “at least 50 percent more polluting than conventional diesel.”
Production of other alternative fuels, such as corn ethanol, can cause water pollution and competition for cropland used for food.
Still, producing cellulosic ethanol, which can be made from crop waste or prairie grass on abandoned land, can greatly reduce global warming pollution, according to the report.
“It’s definitely not all bad,” Willcox said of the new alternative fuels laws. “I think in the big picture it is a step forward.”
According to a report from PennFuture, the alternative fuels plan could add nearly $1.5 billion to the state’s economy and create nearly 26,000 new jobs.
