Stop Moving the Goal Posts, and Two More Principles for an Advanced Ethanol Policy that Works

by Brooke Coleman (Advanced Ethanol Council/Biofuels Digest) ...Often lost in the counter-productive and backward-facing public obsession with corn ethanol are the clear attributes of the ethanol molecule itself.
A recent study, “Ethanol – the Primary Renewable Liquid Fuel,” makes the case that ethanol is the most efficient and productive way to create renewable fuels from biomass and reduce our dependence on oil. Published in the Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology, the study found that due to the fundamentals of photosynthesis and the laws of thermodynamics, biomass-to-ethanol can achieve the highest yields and greatest greenhouse gas reductions of any alternative fuel option.
Specifically, the study demonstrates how, compared to other transportation biofuels, ethanol requires the least amount of carbon to produce and retains the highest amount of oxygen that exists in biomass. This is noteworthy because retaining the oxygen in biomass, as cellulosic and advanced ethanol does, leads to greater yields, lower carbon intensity, and in many cases, lower operating and production costs.
...(E)thanol has evolved from an octane-enhancing additive to a primary renewable fuel with a very bright future, as new technologies and feedstocks come online. The infrastructural investments now required to keep the ethanol industry on an upward and innovative trend owe to its successes in the marketplace, not its weaknesses.
...And during a period in which we exported jobs and capital to countries like China at an alarming rate, the 200 biorefineries now lining the American landscape offer a breath of fresh air, and in many cases will be ground zero for the development of advanced biofuels.
However, innovating the industry and reaping the enormous upside of advanced and cellulosic ethanol commercialization means that government officials and the regulatory agencies charged with maintaining our access to affordable energy must recognize, as they did for oil and gas in the early 20th century, the urgency of the oil dependence problem and what these various alternative fuels need to reach their full potential.
As a general guide for advanced ethanol, we recommend the following:
1.    Stop Moving the Goal Posts. ...
2.    At minimum, create parity in the tax code for alternative fuels. A cornerstone of the development of the oil and gas industries in this country was the enactment of durable and predictable tax incentives that de-risked the initial investment in fossil fuel extraction and processing. Most of these oil and gas incentives still exist today, and are being used for oil and gas development projects currently underway.
If the volumes of advanced biofuels envisioned by the federal RFS are to be realized, we must level the tax playing field and, at minimum, give advanced biofuels the same preferential treatment offered to oil and gas. ...
3.    Open up the ethanol marketplace. ... READ MORE Abstract