A View from the Hill
October 1, 2003
BY Bob Dinneen
The face of the ethanol industry has slowly been changing over the last several years. In the last three years, the pace of change has quickened with the addition of 20 new plants and more than a billion gallons of production capacity. Almost all of that growth has been in farmer-owned ethanol plants.
The year 2003 may be a watershed time for farmer-owned ethanol plants. For the first time, farmer-owned ethanol plants – taken as a whole – are the single largest producer in the ethanol industry. Plant locations, plant designs and sizes, and ownership structures have never been more diverse. This new reality is allowing the ethanol industry to supply markets that were only dreamed about a few short years ago.
On Oct. 1, Chippewa Valley Ethanol Co. General Manager Bill Lee was elected Chairman of the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) – the first time a farmer-owned plant has chaired the association. I believe this is a watershed moment. Bill is a passionate, articulate and innovative advocate for ethanol. His election as RFA chairman is a reflection of the evolution of the ethanol industry. As the industry has grown and changed, so has the RFA. We are now a more diverse, dynamic and stronger association.
The rapid expansion of ethanol production has opened eyes. It has opened eyes in Washington that ethanol can play a major role in our nation's energy policy. The current overwhelming support for a renewable fuels standard (RFS) would not have been possible just five years ago.
Ethanol's growth has opened eyes in the petroleum industry. Once viewed as just a niche fuel in the Midwest, major oil companies now talk about how ethanol will continue to be blended in states like California and New York regardless of federal laws like the oxygenate requirement, MTBE bans or the RFS. Obviously, our industry needs the certainty and growth provided by a federal energy policy, but it is also clear we have earned a spot in the gasoline market on our merits. Ethanol is the best available low-cost, clean source of octane on the market.
And the ethanol industry has opened the eyes of farmers across the county. Whether corn farmers in upstate New York or rice growers in southern California, ethanol is viewed as the poster boy for successful value-added agriculture. There is hardly a state in the Union that does not have a group of farmers working to build an ethanol plant.
With the eyes of the country on the ethanol industry, we must continue to meet and exceed expectations. I believe we can. However, as the ethanol industry continues to grow and diversify, it is important that we remain unified. I believe the RFA has helped accomplish that feat during the remarkable transformation of the ethanol industry over the last several years. But as that industry moves toward a five billion gallon horizon, we will need to maintain our course and momentum. Jump aboard the ethanol bandwagon and help steer the course toward the next watershed.
Bob Dinneen
President and CEO,
Renewable Fuels Association
The year 2003 may be a watershed time for farmer-owned ethanol plants. For the first time, farmer-owned ethanol plants – taken as a whole – are the single largest producer in the ethanol industry. Plant locations, plant designs and sizes, and ownership structures have never been more diverse. This new reality is allowing the ethanol industry to supply markets that were only dreamed about a few short years ago.
On Oct. 1, Chippewa Valley Ethanol Co. General Manager Bill Lee was elected Chairman of the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) – the first time a farmer-owned plant has chaired the association. I believe this is a watershed moment. Bill is a passionate, articulate and innovative advocate for ethanol. His election as RFA chairman is a reflection of the evolution of the ethanol industry. As the industry has grown and changed, so has the RFA. We are now a more diverse, dynamic and stronger association.
The rapid expansion of ethanol production has opened eyes. It has opened eyes in Washington that ethanol can play a major role in our nation's energy policy. The current overwhelming support for a renewable fuels standard (RFS) would not have been possible just five years ago.
Ethanol's growth has opened eyes in the petroleum industry. Once viewed as just a niche fuel in the Midwest, major oil companies now talk about how ethanol will continue to be blended in states like California and New York regardless of federal laws like the oxygenate requirement, MTBE bans or the RFS. Obviously, our industry needs the certainty and growth provided by a federal energy policy, but it is also clear we have earned a spot in the gasoline market on our merits. Ethanol is the best available low-cost, clean source of octane on the market.
And the ethanol industry has opened the eyes of farmers across the county. Whether corn farmers in upstate New York or rice growers in southern California, ethanol is viewed as the poster boy for successful value-added agriculture. There is hardly a state in the Union that does not have a group of farmers working to build an ethanol plant.
With the eyes of the country on the ethanol industry, we must continue to meet and exceed expectations. I believe we can. However, as the ethanol industry continues to grow and diversify, it is important that we remain unified. I believe the RFA has helped accomplish that feat during the remarkable transformation of the ethanol industry over the last several years. But as that industry moves toward a five billion gallon horizon, we will need to maintain our course and momentum. Jump aboard the ethanol bandwagon and help steer the course toward the next watershed.
Bob Dinneen
President and CEO,
Renewable Fuels Association
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