The National Biodiesel Board delivered a letter to Michael Regan, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, that renewed a May 2021 request to meet with him. The NBB wants to discuss the findings from a new study called “Assessment of Health Benefits from Using Biodiesel as a Transportation Fuel.”
The group points out that the study quantifies, at a community level, the public health benefits and resulting economic savings of using higher blends of biodiesel. The findings complement those of a new EPA Report that details the unequal impacts of carbon and associated emissions on socially disadvantaged communities.
“We believe that our industry’s goals are consistent with your agency’s plans to address carbon and focus on environmental health,” says Kurt Kovarik, NBB Vice President of Federal Affairs. “Replacing petroleum with drop-in alternatives like biodiesel and renewable diesel will immediately reduce carbon.
Also, biodiesel and renewable diesel reduce particulate matter and hydrocarbon emissions that contribute to cancer, lung, and heart disease rates.”
The NBB study shows that switching from petroleum to 100 percent biodiesel in transportation could annually bring the communities studied fewer asthma attacks and other lung problems, lost workdays, and premature deaths as well as a reduction in cancer risk. “The EPA report doesn’t really discuss solutions,” Kovarik adds, “which we can provide.”