Dinneen writes to BP

February 1, 2006

In December, Dinneen wrote a letter to BP CEO John Browne in response to recent remarks by Browne concerning renewable energy, specifically ethanol. Earlier, Browne had said ethanol is "damaging to the carbon dioxide balance" because the use of ethanol feedstock plants decreases the amount of oxygen in the air. Dinneen countered the remark by writing, "According to the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory, the 3.5 billion gallons of ethanol produced last year reduced greenhouse gases by more than 7 million tons. That's the equivalent of taking more than a million vehicles off the road."

Dinneen added that several advancements were being made in the ethanol industry to improve efficiency, including the use of energy sources other than natural gas. "Several companies are extremely close to commercializing cellulosic ethanol production, a development that, when it occurs, will revolutionize the industry," Dinneen wrote. He also offered to show Browne around an ethanol plant in the United States in the future. EP

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