Page 10 - NorthAmOil Week 33 2021

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Biofuels absent in bipartisan infrastructure bill
US
BIOFUELS are in danger of getting left behind in the US. The trillion-dollar infrastructure bill recently passed by the Senate contained almost nothing whatsoever about biofuels.
But the bill, which must now go to the US House of Representatives, does include $7.5bn for electric-vehicle (EV) charging stations. This will boost the technology for electric vehicles and allow it to leapfrog over biofuels as the coun- try moves towards net zero of carbon dioxide emissions.
Cassidy Walter, spokeswoman for the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, told Radio Iowa that the Senate missed an opportunity. “If our country is trying to reduce carbon emissions by having a singular focus on EVs, we’re really setting aside the huge impact that biofuels are prepared to make,” she said.
The association will now lobby lawmakers in the House to try and get some provisions added for biofuels. “Today, [biofuels are] reducing car- bon emissions by roughly 50% or more already and they’re on a path to be carbon negative in the next decade,” she said. “It’s a missed opportunity that’s actually worse for our environment, it’s no good for the Midwestern economy and it hurts farmers.”
Midwest farms are where most of the maize used for ethanol is grown.
The association’s executive director Monte Shaw also said: “The singular focus on EVs instead of carbon reduction is hurting the envi- ronment, the Midwest economy and farmers
specifically. Biofuels like ethanol and biodiesel made here in Iowa are reducing carbon emis- sions by roughly 50% or more today.”
He continued: “And unlike EVs, biofuels are on the path to being carbon negative in less than a decade. Coastal elites should embrace multiple solutions to our environmental chal- lenges instead of DC-based ‘one size fits all’ approach. This was a huge missed opportu- nity to expand consumer access to a low-cost, low-carbon fuel for the vehicles actually on the roads today.”
EVs are indeed embraced by what Midwest-
erners call coastal elites, in California, Washing-
ton DC, New York and New England. of the maize used
Of the upcoming lobbying in the House, Wal- ters said: “There is a lot of room for biofuels to grow when it comes to infrastructure. We have a long way to go in terms of increasing consumer access to higher [petrol] biofuel blends like E-15, E-85 and B-20.”
Biofuels advocates previously took on EVs when US President Joe Biden, in early August, announced a plan for the vehicles to comprise 50% of new vehicle sales by 2030.
Renewable Fuels Association president and CEO Geoff Cooper said: “Even if half of new vehicles sold in 2030 are electric, four out of every five cars on the road that year will still have internal combustion engines that require liquid fuels. Renewable fuels like ethanol offer a solu- tion that is available right here, right now at a low cost to jump-start decarbonisation efforts.”™
for ethanol is grown.
Midwest farms are where most
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 33 19•August•2021