On March 12, 2015, Christopher Grundler, Director of EPA's Office of Transportation and Air Quality, signed the Notice Of Opportunity to Comment on an Analysis of the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Attributable to Production and Transport of Pennycress (Thlaspi Avense) Oil for Use in Biofuel Production. This notice states that biofuels produced from pennycress oil could qualify as biomass-based diesel or advanced biofuel when they are produced using typical fuel production process technologies. The notice is the result of an analysis of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that come from the production and transport of pennycress oil. According to the analysis, pennycress oil has less than or equal GHG emissions per ton of oil than soybean oil when accounting for crop inputs, crushing, extraction, and direct and indirect land use change. Soybean oil and pennycress oil are expected to also have the same fuel yield per pound of oil. This means that pennycress oil-based biofuels could produce less GHG than soybean oil-based biofuels. The notice has not yet been published in the Federal Register, but once posted will be found at the soon to be opened Docket No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2015-0091. Comments will be open for 30 days after publication.

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