An updated renewable fuels standard issued by the EPA for next year pushes the country closer to reaching a mandatory 7.5 billion gallon target by 2012.

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen Johnson has set a 4.66 percent standard for 2008. That means refiners, importers and non-oxygenate blenders of gasoline are required to mix at least 5.4 billion gallons of renewable fuels into transportation gasoline next year.

The 2005 Energy Policy Act requires the EPA to determine the standard. Johnson signed this year’s standard Nov. 20. It will appear in the Federal Register before the end of November, said EPA spokeswoman Margot Perez-Sullivan.

Renewable fuels include ethanol, biodiesel and other motor vehicle fuels made from non-fossil fuel sources. The standard for 2007 was 4.02 percent, equating to roughly 4.7 billion gallons. The first standard, set for 2006, was a modest 2.78 percent.

In 2005, Congress amended the Clean Air Act to establish what’s called a Renewable Fuel Standard program. EPA became responsible for collaborating with the Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to design this first-of-its-kind program. The RFS program is supposed to create new markets for farm products, increase energy security and promote the development of advanced technologies that expand markets for renewable and alternative fuels.

Nationwide gasoline use in 2008 is projected to reach 144.8 billion gallons, according to EPA statistics. The agency figures that 49 states -- Alaska is exempt and thus not included -- are expected to use 8.96 billion gallons of renewable fuels in 2008.

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