The Renewable Fuels Association continued its criticism of the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal to calculate biofuels’ greenhouse gas emission by including indirect land use change. In a conference call on Sept. 24, RFA President and CEO Bob Dinneen told reporters that indirect land use change was an “unproven theory” and so imposing it on biofuels will only punish the industry and frustrate national efforts to promote biofuels as an alternative to petroleum-based fuels.

He said biofuels actually had far more benefits to the environment, including the ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60 percent over fossil fuels. If the indirect land use change is used to calculate the industry’s carbon footprint, he warned, the benefit of biofuels over fossil fuels would be reduced to 16 percent.

Dinneen made these comments ahead of Friday’s (9/25) closure of the public comments period for the proposed Renewable Fuel Standard or RFS2 rules. EPA issued the proposed RFS2 rules in May. The RFA has raised several concerns with EPA’s proposal and said it would submit prepared detailed comments outlining the group’s concerns ahead of the deadline.

While oil rig counts have increased substantially in the past three months, natural gas rig counts have risen only slightly due to record-high storage levels for the fuel, according to a report from the Energy Information Administration.

As of Sept. 18, Baker Hughes Inc. reports 293 rigs drilling for oil and 705 rigs drilling for natural gas.

The current oil rig count reflects a 64 percent increase from the lowest 2009 level reached in early-June, while the natural gas rig count is only 6 percent above its mid-July level.