The ethanol industry has been around almost 20 years. Each year, it has gotten a little larger, and seems to have found a niche in the U.S. fuel system. However, officials of major ethanol producing companies tell a different story.
Officials still have to take the message to lawmakers that ethanol and other biofuels are good for farmers and consumers and overall, benefit the country more than total dependence on petroleum. A talk with Growth Energy on their testimony to Congress last week on the benefits of biofuels?
The U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Environment and the House Subcommittee on Energy heard from Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor on how ethanol use in fuels benefits farmers and consumers, alike.
?Ethanol is an oxygenate, it is a high-octane fuel. It allows the fuel to burn more completely and efficiently; that is key to fuel efficiency. As we are looking for the engine of the future that has to meet more stringent standards, ethanol is going to be key to that solution. The other benefits of higher blends of ethanol are environmental and human health (benefits). As you have higher blends of ethanol, you are going to continue to reduce greenhouse gases. On a human health side, ethanol replaces toxic, cacogenic additives. The result is the tailpipe emissions are cleaner; the air that we are breathing is cleaner as well,? Skor said.
The hearing was titled Examining Advancements in Biofuels: Balancing Federal Research and Market Innovation.
As part of her comments to lawmakers, Skor said securing a Reid Vapor Pressure waiver to allow for E15 sales year-round across the nation is a critical step in helping to advance ethanol.
?That?s really key to helping fulfill the promise of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and the promise of more biofuels in our transportation fuel mix. There is a bill in Congress that has bipartisan support, so we?re moving that through the process. There have also been conversations with EPA, in terms of what they could do to be helpful as well. All parties in the biofuels supply chain are recognizing the pivotal importance of securing this waiver because this really will help drive further market access for consumers and further consumer demand for the fuel,? Skor.
When questioned by lawmakers how ethanol production impacts food prices, Skor cited data that shows no connection between ethanol production and food prices.
?The UN has a food price index, and they look at the price of grain-based cereal. The price of cereal is lower today than it was in 2007, when we expanded the RFS. If you open the newspaper and read the latest Wall Street Journal story on food prices in the U.S., we are experiencing a record all-time low stretch in terms of food prices. The data out there continues to reinforce that there is no correlation, to the extent that if food prices are a function of anything, they are a function of oil prices,? Skor said.
Skor said the hearing offered a great opportunity to highlight the benefits of biofuels research.
?I was pleased to be able to talk about the extent to which the private sector and consumers across the country have benefitted from the federal government?s support of and investment in continued research of biofuels,? Skor said.
Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor
