Senators Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, both members of the Senate Ag Committee, wrote a letter with 22 colleagues to the Environmental Protection Agency about biofuels.

The letter asks EPA Administrator Michael Regan to support higher amounts of biomass-based biodiesel and other advanced biofuels in the upcoming 2023 and 2024 Renewable Volume Obligations. “Advanced biofuels have a critical role in addressing some of the economic challenges we face today,”

Grassley says in the letter. The senators also say that the production and use of advanced biofuels benefit the economy and the environment in many ways. For example, the production process involves utilizing resources that would otherwise be of no use, including surplus vegetable oils, recycled cooking oils, and animal fats.

Production of clean-burning, homegrown biofuels supports 13 percent of the value of U.S. soybeans. Laboratory estimates say biodiesel reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 74 percent compared to regular diesel.