Greenhouse Gas Limits in 2007 Energy Act

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The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 became law on December 19, 2007.

According to Section 526 of the law:

No Federal agency shall enter into a contract for procurement of an alternative or synthetic fuel, including a fuel produced from nonconventional petroleum sources, for any mobility-related use, other than for research or testing, unless the contract specifies that the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions associated with the production and combustion of the fuel supplied under the contract must, on an ongoing basis, be less than or equal to such emissions from the equivalent conventional fuel produced from conventional petroleum sources.

This provision of the legislation was included in response to proposals by the U.S. Air Force to develop coal-to-liquids plants, since coal-to-liquids technology produces almost double the greenhouse gas emissions of conventional fuel. On January 30, 2008, Representative Henry Waxman, Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Tom Davis, Ranking Minority Member of the committee, wrote to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, requesting information on how the Department of Defense's plans for coal-based synfuels would comply with new greenhouse gas limits imposed on federal agencies by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.

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