The creation and transfer of renewable identification numbers (RINs) began Sept. 1, in accordance with regulations set forth by the U.S. EPA. Companies that must comply with the renewable fuels standard regulations have employed several different strategies to create and track RINs. Two strategies are an in-house system or a third-party registry.

An in-house RIN tracking system was developed by Ontario-based DBC Smartsoftware Inc. "To our knowledge, we are the only software vendor that put in all the EPA requirements for creating, tracking and retiring RINs," said Sherry Drutman, vice president of North American sales.

The company's flagship product, dbcSMARTsoft, is a suite of applications designed to address all facets of procurement, inventory, ethanol production, bin management, sales, risk management and financials. According to Drutman, four ethanol producers that already use the software suite are also using the RIN reporting and recordkeeping software package. She said companies can utilize DBC's RIN software as a stand-alone application. In addition to ethanol producers, the software can be used by refiners, blenders, marketers and others that must comply with the regulations.

The other strategy, a third-party registry, was developed by Clean Fuels Clearinghouse and is called RINSTAR (RIN supply, trading, accounting and reporting) Renewable Fuel Registry. The registry is a Web-based renewable fuels validation and credit management system, open to all stakeholders in the renewable fuels arena. The registry is a database, similar to the platform that Internet search engines are built on, that provides access to secure data. The database, which is always accessible, doesn't require modification to an existing accounting system. "The power of the registry is that it allows us to validate RINs that are generated from proper parties that are registered with the EPA," said Clean Fuels Clearinghouse President Clayton McMartin. "It also allows us to check against other RINs on the registry. That offers some confidence in the validity of the RINs that the end-party receives."

He continued, "We developed a standard called Certified Refuel. It means that a third party has been involved from the time it's been produced to the time it reaches the customer and that it meets the minimum standards as required by the EPA." As of early September, there were 13 affected parties signed on and using the registry.

Though development of compliance strategies may have taken a while at first, Jim Damask said it's not a big issue anymore. Damask is the managing director of BiofuelsConnect, a biofuels brokerage company. He said in the majority of biofuels transactions that his company has brokered since the regulations went into effect, the sellers are providing RINs and the buyers are expecting them. "It's just a no-brainer, and it's becoming part of the market," he said.