Innovation, Vision Drive Current Ethanol Industry, Says RFA Chief

(Renewable Fuels Association) Speaking before 1,200 attendees at the National Ethanol Conference in Orlando today, Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) President and CEO Bob Dinneen will drive home the message that America’s ethanol industry is on the vanguard of leading this nation and the world toward a cleaner, renewable, and more secure energy future.

“More than 30 years after the emergence of the U.S. ethanol industry, we have always innovated, we have always led, and our best days are still ahead of us,” Dinneen will say in prepared remarks.

In very specific terms, Dinneen will make the case that the emergence and continued growth of domestic ethanol production in fundamentally improving the nation’s energy future, rural economies, and way of life.

“As the U.S. ethanol industry has grown, America’s dependence on imported oil has fallen,” Dinneen will point out, specifically noting:

• Ethanol now accounts for one out of every four gallons of fuel (for gasoline vehicles) produced from domestic energy sources.

• In 2000, 55% of our gasoline supply came from imported oil and 1% came from ethanol. Today, ethanol makes up 10% of our gasoline supply, and oil imports have dropped to 45%.

• On a cumulative basis, ethanol has accounted for 81% of new domestic fuel production since 2005. Since the start of the RFS, on a net basis, America’s ethanol industry has added 838 million barrels of new fuel to our energy supply, compared to 197 million barrels of new oil production.

As Dinneen will highlight, “Perhaps the most telling evidence of the state of the ethanol industry and the success that it has become is the economic revitalization happening all across rural America. Ethanol has become the single most important value added market for farmers, stimulating investment and allowing farmers to get their income from the marketplace, not the taxpayer. That’s not theory, that’s a fact.”

Notably, Dinneen will make clear that ethanol has helped contribute to a period of prosperity for all of rural America driven by the market and not the federal government. For instance, government payments that are a function of crop price were nearly zero in 2011, compared to $11 billion in 2005 – the first year of the Renewable Fuel Standard. All of this is happening as net farm income is expected to increase to more than $100 billion for the first time in history.

The innovation and contribution of America’s ethanol industry to date is just a sampling of what is possible, according to Dinneen. “I happen to agree that the world’s energy situation is such that we need ALL energy resources,” Dinneen will say. “So frack if it can be done safely and cleanly. Bring on the tar sands if Canada is satisfied it can manage the ecological consequences of its extraction and processing. But we can’t allow the current infatuation with unconventional oil resources to undermine or reverse the progress we have made and the promise of continued technological innovation in renewable energy resources.”

To that end, Dinneen will yet again make a strong push to maintain the integrity and strength of the RFS, extend key tax incentives for cellulosic ethanol production, modernize America’s fuel market through higher ethanol blends and cars and pumps designed to utilize them, maximize domestic and international market opportunities, and level the playing field between entrenched fossil fuel industries and evolving renewable fuel technologies.

“The pendulum does swing,” Dinneen will say. “The current fracking frenzy will cool and folks will put things back in perspective, including a world big enough for unconventional oil, conventional biofuels, and emerging advanced and cellulosic biofuels. But it will take time and effort. The RFA is committed to providing both.”