The Biofuels Industry Seeks Spot in Infrastructure Discussion

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April 6, 2021

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(Red River Farm Network) … Renewable Fuels Association Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Troy Bredenkamp wants biofuels to also have a place in the infrastructure discussion. “It’s disappointing to see what came out from the Biden administration in terms of the role they think biofuels should play. It’s very heavy on electric vehicles to the tune of about $170 billion. There’s no dollars designated for biofuels in terms of infrastructure or climate change.”

More flex-fuel vehicle production and an infrastructure package for higher blend ethanol pumps are on the infrastructure wish-list. “They could do a lot for biofuels for a fraction of the cost of what they’re suggesting to spend on electric vehicle infrastructure. We would ask for something around $500 million per year for blender pump infrastructure.” READ MORE

Sen. Amy Klobuchar to introduce $500 million biofuels infrastructure bill (AgWeek)

Infrastructure package makes way for ethanol fight (E&E News)

Ethanol backers make the case for biofuels in Biden’s agenda (Nebraska TV; includes VIDEO)

Excerpt from Nebraska TV: “If you have ambitious climate goals we can get you there with today’s fleet today’s infrastructure and we can do it affordably for all communities,” said Emily Skor, CEO of Growth Energy.

Panelists said if Pres. Biden wants to do something about climate change, electric vehicles will only do so much. Biofuels can help achieve those goals sooner.

These folks want to help farmers but they say it’s important to emphasize the nation’s issues, in this case, the focus on climate change. That’s the same approach they took a generation ago when the focus was on energy independence.

National Corn Growers Association’s Jon Doggett said, “We can put ethanol plants on outskirts of small, rural communities, and take plywood off storefronts in middle America. That’s a cool thing. It wasn’t about solving our problem. We had a lot of corn. wasn’t our problem getting solved, it was country’s problem getting resolved.”

Doggett said that same kind of approach could be helpful as they deal with the new administration.

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In addition, panelists said there have been some encouraging exports as China and Brazil have been buying ethanol.

After 2020’s tailspin the panelists said folks are hitting the road and the new president has shown support for biofuels. READ MORE

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