FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JUNE 13, 2001
Contact:
David Morris, Institute for Local Self-Reliance
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
612-379-3815
http://www.ilsr.org/
Rejection of Oxygenate Waiver Should Encourage California to Become a
Major Transportation Fuel Producer
President George W. Bush's denial of California's request for a waiver
from the federal fuel oxygenate requirement is unleashing a wave of
outrage and bitterness in that state. The anger is compounded by the
President's refusal to provide California with any short term relief
from high electricity prices. And it is fueled by the fact that Archer
Daniels Midland (ADM), the giant ethanol producer, has generously
lavished contributions on political parties and stands to gain the most
from the dramatically expanded market for ethanol.
"The anger is justified", says David Morris, Vice President of the
Minneapolis based Institute for Local Self-Reliance. "But the good news
is that California can become self-sufficient in ethanol production.
Indeed, in the long run, the President's decision may well spur
California to develop a homegrown transportation fuel industry based on
its well-known leadership in the biotechnology and bioengineering
fields."
California has sufficient corn acreage to supply 50-100 million of the
500-700 million gallons of ethanol it will need to completely replace
MTBE. It has significant quantities of fruit wastes that can produce
100 million or more additional gallons. It has organic wastes like tree
trimmings, yard waste, rice straw, and other cellulosic resources that
could allow it to produce another 400-600 million gallons a year.
"Five years from now there could be one or two biorefineries in every
California county, producing not only ethanol but higher value
biochemicals", says Morris, who coined the term "carbohydrate economy"
in the early 1980s to describe an economy that relies on plants rather
than fossil fuels as its industrial building blocks. Morris is the
author of several books on ethanol and biorefineries, and currently
serves on a congressionally mandated council that advises the U.S.
Departments of Energy and Agriculture on energy and agricultural
policies.
Morris points to his home state of Minnesota, where 10 percent of all
transportation fuel is produced in-state from agricultural crops. There
are 14 biorefineries in Minnesota, and 10 of them are owned by farmers
themselves. "As a result a significant amount of the money spent at the
pump in Minneapolis stays in the state and benefits rural and farming
communities directly", notes Morris. California would use different raw
materials for making ethanol, but could have the same large number of
production facilities and the same beneficial impact to an agricultural
and rural sector that has been in recession for several years.
The Institute for Local Self-Reliance is a 27-year-old nonprofit
research and educational organization supporting environmentally and
economically sound local communities. For more information visit ILSR's
Carbohydrate Economy web site at http://www.carbohydrateeconomy.org/ or
ILSR's home page at http://www.ilsr.org/
--
John Bailey
Institute for Local Self-Reliance
1313 Fifth St. SE
Minneapolis, MN 55414
E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
ILSR's Home: http://www.ilsr.org/
Sustainable MN: http://www.me3.org/
New Rules Project: http://www.newrules.org/
Carbohydrate Economy: http://www.carbohydrateeconomy.org/
**
The Oil Industry is Creating Gasoline Supply Problems - Ethanol is the Answer
By Trevor Guthmiller, Executive Director, American Coalition for Ethanol
For the second year in a row we are having to deal with exceedingly
high gas prices, especially in the Midwest reformulated gasoline
markets where ethanol is used. The oil industry, in typical fashion,
is trying to act surprised and is trying to shift the blame to: 1)
the government for requiring "boutique" fuels due to the
"balkanization" of the fuel marketplace; and 2) ethanol because, in
their words, it is so hard to transport and use.
What they don't want to talk about is their industry's support for
some of the boutique fuel requirements around the country. For
instance, they supported the efforts of some government entities to
adopt low-Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) fuel requirements instead of
reformulated gasoline requirements that would require the fuel be
oxygenated, and heaven forbid, they have to use more ethanol.
More interestingly, the oil industry doesn't seem to want to talk
about what appears to be a deliberate effort to decrease production
of reformulated gasoline, especially in the Midwest where it is
blended with ethanol. This allows them to drive up the price and to
then shift the blame to ethanol. In 1999, 358,000 barrels per day of
reformulated gasoline (RFG) was produced in the Midwest (PADD 2). In
2000, that number dropped to 300,000 barrels per day and gas prices
went through the roof, and the oil industry
