The U.S. ethanol industry had a platform in front of Congress today.
Aventine Renewable Energy Inc. CEO Ron Miller appeared before the
Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee in Washington, D.C.
Miller is also chairman of the
Renewable Fuels Association. Pekin, Ill.-based Aventine markets and produces more than 700 MMgy of ethanol from its own facilities and through partner alliances.
Miller noted the economic impacts that more than 5 billion gallons of annual ethanol production capacity has created:
--added $41.1 billion to gross output
--created 160,231 jobs in all sectors of the economy
--increased economic activity and new jobs from ethanol increased household income by $6.7 billion, money that flows directly into consumers' pockets
--contributed $2.7 billion of tax revenue for the federal government and $2.3 billion for state and local governments
--reduced oil imports by 170 million barrels of oil, valued at $11.2 billion.
Miller presented information that projected that more than 2.2 billion gallons of new ethanol production capacity will come on line in the fourth quarter of 2007 and first quarter of 2008. There is currently more than 4.5 billion gallons of ethanol capacity under construction or expansion in the United States and Canada, according to statistics compiled by
Ethanol Producer Magazine.
Miller said the industry has worked to expand a "virtual pipeline" through use of the rail system, barge and truck traffic to move that ethanol capacity. He said that unit trains are becoming the norm for shipping ethanol. "We will continue to grow the necessary infrastructure to make sure that in any market we need to ship ethanol there is rail access at gasoline terminals, and that those terminals are able to take unit trains," he said.
Recent comments made to President George W. Bush by leaders of the "Big Three" U.S. automakers signaled an increase in flexible fuel vehicle (FFV) production. Miller said that by 2015 there could be more than 35 million FFVs on the road, creating a potential demand for more than 21 billion gallons of E85. In order to fulfill that demand, Miller called for enhanced incentives to gasoline marketers to install E85 refueling pumps. There are currently about 1,100 E85 pumps in the United States, many of which are located in Minnesota.
Government support of technological advancement was crucial, Miller noted. He said existing government programs, such as competitively awarded grants and loan guarantees by the DOE and USDA have significantly pushed efforts to enhance technology. "The ethanol industry encourages Congress to fully appropriate funds for these critically competitive solicitations during the (Fiscal Year) '07 budget process," he said.
Finally, Miller said the ethanol industry is actively pursuing cellulosic ethanol production. The National Corn Growers Association projects that by 2015, corn growers will produce 15 billion bushels of corn, which would produce approximately 15 billion gallons of ethanol without significantly disrupting other corn markets. Miller said some analysts are predicting an additional 10 million acres of corn will be planted in 2007.
"Indeed, there is not an ethanol biorefinery in production today that does not have a very aggressive cellulose ethanol research program," Miller said. "The reason for this is that they all have cellulose already coming into the plant in the form of corn stover and corn fiber. … I believe cellulose ethanol will be commercialized first by current producers who have these cellulosic feedstocks at their grain-based facilities."
This session of Congress has already seen several key pieces of legislation introduced that would boost the ethanol industry. Bills are on the table that would permanently extend the 51 cent-per-gallon ethanol tax credit and the 54 cent-per-gallon import tariff. Another bill has been proposed that would increase the renewable fuels standard to 30 billion gallons by 2020 and 60 billion gallons by 2030. The current RFS calls for 7.5 billion gallons of renewable fuels by 2012.
Dave Nilles is Online Editor for
Ethanol Producer Magazine. Reach him at
dnilles@bbibiofuels.com or (701) 373-0636.
Posted: 9:59 a.m. CST Wednesday, January 10, 2007