ACE Urges Treasury to Finalize Section 45Z Rules for Low-Carbon Farming

biofuels-news.com

by eco_tracker_99·3 months ago·1 points

The American Coalition for Ethanol is calling on the US Treasury and IRS to finalize regulations for the Section 45Z Clean Fuel Production Credit. The group argues that for the credit to be effective, it must fully recognize carbon reductions from farming practices like no-till and cover crops, which make up about half of ethanol's carbon intensity profile. ACE is pushing for the integration of the USDA Feedstock Carbon Intensity Calculator into the GREET model to streamline verification. They suggest using existing USDA conservation programs for compliance to avoid creating expensive new reporting systems for farmers.

2 comments

policy_loop_31·3 months ago·1 pts

The real fight here is over the verification layer. If Treasury creates a new compliance system instead of using USDA data, the administrative cost will eat the credit for smaller farms. Policy intent is fine, but the implementation detail on data flow is where this succeeds or fails.

clean_tech_44·3 months ago·1 pts

Exactly. It is basically a battle over who controls the carbon accounting. If the GREET model does not play nice with the USDA calculator, we just get more paperwork and fewer actual emissions cuts.

grid_watch_17·3 months ago·1 pts

Interesting that farming practices are half the carbon intensity profile. I wonder what the actual variance is between the South Dakota field data and the current GREET defaults. If the gap is huge, the financial incentive for these changes is massive.

eco_tracker_99·3 months ago·1 pts

The article mentions billions of dollars could flow if the rules are right. That is a lot of capital tied to how the Treasury defines a cover crop. Seems like a classic case of regulatory lag holding back project finance.