Accelerating Demand: A Roadmap for Sparking New Demand for Ethanol

by Brian Jennings (American Coalition for Ethanol/Ethanol Producer Magazine) The American Coalition for Ethanol is ready to execute on Accelerate, a roadmap for sparking new demand for ethanol. The plan is built around implementing new clean fuel policies, protecting what already exists and growing ethanol markets globally.

Indeed, a split Congress is a good thing for the ethanol industry because our opponents will have an impossibly hard time trying to repeal or reduce the RFS, and, extreme measures like the Green New Deal or a ban on internal combustion engines are highly unlikely to become law. Nevertheless, we should expect a Biden administration and many in Congress to aggressively pursue new policy ideas to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

As this climate change discussion picks up, rural America has an important decision to make. Are we going to engage or stand on the sidelines? In anticipation of this very moment, ACE has been doing spade work the last several years to get in the game and position increasing the use of corn ethanol as part of the climate solution.

So now, instead of being caught flat-footed, we will begin executing on a strategic plan we call Accelerate—ACE’s roadmap for sparking new demand for ethanol. Accelerate is built upon three pillars.

For the past two years, ACE has been partnering with the Great Plains Institute on clean-fuel policy ideas for Midwestern states. One year ago, we published a blueprint for how Midwestern states could design clean-fuel policy, and conducted an analysis indicating the quickest and lowest-cost way to meet the goals of a clean-fuel policy in a state like Minnesota or Iowa is through increasing the use of E15, E85 and mid-level blends. That is our primary motivation in the Accelerate plan: Drive higher blends into the market by putting a spotlight on how increasing the use of corn ethanol reduces GHG emissions and revitalizes the economy. Already, several states are seriously considering clean-fuel legislation, and ACE has elevated our engagement on this topic to Congress and the incoming Biden administration. READ MORE