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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 2, 2009

Summit Cracks the Fallacies about Renewable Fuels

The 3rd Annual Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit covered the myriad of opportunities and obstacles that will impact the future of Iowa’s biofuels industry.  Attendees from throughout the Midwest were energized by nationally recognized speakers who tackled the tough issues with frank, no-nonsense solutions and strategies. 

There are those who believe the biofuels industry demand for U.S. corn and soybeans is leading farmers in Brazil to burn down rainforests to plant more crops, which could increase greenhouse gas emissions.  Dr. Robert Brown of ISU’s Bioeconomy Institute, believes that the bioeconomy will actually help the developing world by bringing profitability and encouraging farmers to adopt practices that improve both crop yields and the environment.

“It is already evident that deforestation is not driven by biofuels production.  Whereas the world has lost 500 million acres of rainforest in the last 10 years, the U.S. biofuels industry has diverted less than 20 million acres to ethanol production.  Something else is responsible for the epidemic of deforestation.”

The audience was told that certain government policies may actually hold back the biofuels industry.  According to Walter Wendland, Golden Grain Energy, renewable fuels are being held to higher standards than conventional gasoline or diesel. 

The federal RFS2 requires that ethanol must reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 20% and biodiesel emissions must be cut by 50% while there are no similar requirements for gasoline or diesel.  Layering on the disputed international indirect land use impacts to those calculations makes the GHG targets nearly impossible for biofuels to meet.  “If biofuels don’t meet greenhouse gas targets, they are effectively excluded from the marketplace,” noted Wendland. “Petroleum products have a much worse greenhouse gas profile and they are allowed to be used without any penalty.  This will result in more emissions, less domestic fuel use and less green collar jobs.”

Wendland recommends removing the international indirect land use models from the GHG analysis until sound science can be developed.  Otherwise RFS2 might incorrectly dampen the future of biofuels production and use in the U.S.

A crowd favorite was world renowned author Robert Zubrin.  The author of “Energy Victory” got the audience’s attention quickly by stating “OPEC is choking the world’s oil supply to extort money.”  He predicted that a disaster is waiting to happen as the U.S. becomes more dependent on OPEC for oil supplies.

Zubrin recommends that Congress pass a law requiring that all new cars sold in the U.S. be flex-fueled.  This “Open Fuel Standard” would make 50 million cars in the U.S. capable of running on alcohol fuels within three years.  It would break the oil cartel’s monopoly on the world’s fuel supply.

Pointing out that alcohol fuels counter global warming, burn cleaner, and are less toxic than gasoline, their use promotes agriculture and gives the U.S. more control because “whoever controls the world’s fuel supply, will control the human future.” 

As the biofuels industry faces very difficult times, there are those who fear that the renewable fuels industry will not recover.  “But like our new President, I choose hope over fear,” said Monte Shaw, Iowa Renewable Fuels Association.  “This is not the hollow hope of the uninformed or the wishful thinkers.  This is a hope born on the knowledge that the renewable fuels industry has faced these challenges before and overcame them to achieve heights no one dared dream of only five years ago.”

Shaw identified the challenges facing biofuels, but also the exciting innovations taking place such as corn oil extraction, dry fractionation, ultrasonics, microwave distillers drying and biomass heat and steam to replace coal and natural gas.  “We are facing great challenges, but the opportunities are even greater,” said Shaw.  “We owe it to ourselves and to those following behind us not to give up the fight.”

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For more information, visit the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association website at:  www.IowaRFA.org.