Corn-based fuel still a target on national stage

Some people have placed a bull’s-eye on ethanol fuel made from corn.

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., wants to repeal the 45 cents-per-gallon credit earned by refiners and fuel blenders for ethanol purchased and mixed into gasoline.

Congressional bill S530 would leave the incentive intact for next-generation advanced biofuels not made from corn, according to The Hill, a Congressional newspaper (thehill.com).

U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., said repealing the blenders credit would reduce America’s annual budget by $6 billion (ethanolproducer.com).

Meanwhile, in January, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad praised the Environmental Protection Agency for granting a partial waiver allowing the sale of fuel with 15 percent ethanol for cars, light-duty trucks and medium-duty passenger cars built in 2001 and beyond.

“This action benefits Iowa’s renewable fuels industry in the global competition for energy,” he said.

“This is a recognition that ethanol is a legitimate, sustainable fuel for America’s automobiles. It burns cleaner, it is renewable and it is a major component of Iowa’s economy.

“This expansion of ethanol will boost production and efficiency, and further advances Iowa’s renewable fuels industry,” Branstad said.

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Don’t expect an immediate switch to E15 in Iowa, said Dawn Carlson, president of the Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Stores of Iowa, a trade association whose members handle most of the gas and diesel fuel marketed in Iowa.

“But we are working though those issues and want to assure Iowans of a safe consistent supply of fuel,” she said.

Former Iowa Sen. Thurman Gaskill of Corwith said converting gas pumps would be a “major stumbling block,” but the eventual expiration of government mandates could be a boon for supporters in corn-rich Iowa.

He believes an E15 mandate is at least five years away.

“If we can go from 10 to 15 percent ethanol, that is going to increase the demand. So right now we need more yields in our corn to meet the demand for ethanol,” he said. “And once we get that demand fulfilled, then I’m ready to move on to the 15 percent blend.

“I feel that will be a next step up,” Gaskill said, “perhaps a more economical way of storing our wind energy, if we want to use wind.”

People would be “completely amazed” at what the renewable fuels industry would look like by 2030, “if Congress would get out of the way and Big Oil would be brought down to a level playing field” instead of being highly subsidized, said Monte Shaw, executive director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association.

“With corn yield trends, we could feed the world and produce 50 to 60 billion gallons of ethanol by 2030,” he said.

“And that would just be from corn starch,” he said. “Any cellulosic ethanol production would be above and beyond that. That is game-changing.

“If the ethanol industry could wave a magic wand, our view of the future would be quite simple,” Shaw said. “Every vehicle on the road would be a flexible fuel vehicle and every pump at a gasoline station would be a flex fuel pump (blender pump).

“That would crush the oil monopoly that currently uses its clout to keep consumers from being empowered to choose the fuel of their choice,” he said. “If there was true consumer choice for fuels the ethanol industry would feel quite confident in America’s fueling future.”

(Source: http://www.globegazette.com/news/local/b96012b4-5371-11e0-b2de-001cc4c002e0.html)