The USDA is setting a target of a 30% blend of biofuels into the U.S. fuel supply by 2050, stated Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue Thursday.
Larger biofuel use was one of the four targets of a division-wide “innovation agenda” to extend agricultural production by 40%, whereas decreasing agriculture’s environmental impact by half.
On renewable energy, the agenda requires improved production efficiency and bigger production of feedstocks “to realize market-driven mix rates of 15% of transportation fuels in 2030 and 30% of transportation fuels by 2050.” At present, biofuels account for barely over 10% of the fuel burned by vehicles and light vehicles.
Biofuels are “one of the best to achieve,” Perdue stated during a news conference. He pointed to the administration decision last spring to permit the year-round sales of E15, a 15% blend of ethanol and gasoline.
The other innovation objectives are a 50% reduction in food loss and waste by 2030; lowering nutrient loss by 30% by 2050 to improve water quality; enhancing carbon sequestration via soil health and forestry; utilizing new technology to “obtain net reduction of the agricultural sector’s current carbon footstep by 2050 without regulatory overreach.”
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