Delta Air Lines has joined oil industry trade groups in fighting the US biofuel mandate.
Through its refinery unit, Monroe Energy, Delta has filed a lawsuit in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit challenging the EPA’s 2013 renewable fuel requirements, FuelFix reports.
Refiners generate renewable identification numbers — essentially compliance credits — for every gallon of biofuel they incorporate. Refiners that don’t meet the annual biofuel quota must buy credits to meet the mandate.
Because Monroe is a “merchant refiner,” selling unblended products to wholesale marketers, it has to buy credits, Fuel Fix reports. In its Oct. 4 federal court petition, Monroe says this forces it to spend millions of dollars acquiring compliance credits at what it calls artificially inflated prices.
Refiners have until June 30 to prove they have complied with this year’s biofuel quotas.