Ethanol Conspiracy Theories Ignore Fuel's Legitimate Shortcomings |
'Cellulosic ethanol is akin to the tooth fairy; it's an entity that
many believe in, but no one ever actually sees.' -- 'The Senate's Ethanol
Delusion,' by Robert Bryce, Energy Tribune
WASHINGTON, Oct. 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Yesterday, Renewable
Fuels Association President Bob Dineen issued a statement urging Congress
to pump billions of subsidies into ethanol. Dineen's rhetoric begs
lawmakers to create an artificial market for ethanol, build the extra
infrastructure needed for transport, and condemns anyone who speaks about
its shortcomings as part of a "coordinated offensive of mistruths". These
statements undermine the effort to have a serious debate about the right
way to diversify our energy sources and increase America's energy security.
The ethanol industry has been getting super-sized subsidies for more than
two decades. Throughout that time, cellulosic ethanol has always been
"right around the corner." We should be looking to innovators and
entrepreneurs to develop the next great technological breakthroughs in
energy -- not to lobbyists seeking more handouts in Washington.
Despite Dineen's accusation of an "insidious campaign" by the fossil
fuels industry against biofuels, there are a myriad of legitimate concerns
about ethanol. Those concerns include, but are not limited to, ethanol's
effect on food prices, its huge water demands, and its overall financial
cost. (For more on this see the recent Wall Street Journal editorial,
"Ethanol's Water Shortage".)
The Institute for Energy Research supports energy diversity, tapping
into the most efficient traditional, alternative, and renewable sources
capable of sustaining themselves in a free market, including using ethanol
as a gasoline blend. However, propping up less efficient producers with
endless subsidies and mandating production of biofuels will not increase
our energy security, and will likely produce a host of negative unintended
consequences.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration believes that the practical
limit for domestic ethanol production is about 13.8 billion gallons by
2030, or about 7 percent of the transportation fuels market (Annual Energy
Outlook 2007). Mandating the production of 36 billion gallons of ethanol by
2022 will require a fleet of flex-fuel vehicles, but currently, less than
one percent of retail stations sell E85, a blend of 85 percent ethanol and
15 percent gasoline.
According to IER Adjunct Scholar Jerry Taylor, virtually all studies
show that greenhouse gases associated with ethanol are about the same as
those associated with conventional gasoline once the entire life cycle of
the two fuels are compared. Further, as more land is harnessed for corn
production, less fertile soils will be brought into production, requiring
more energy intensive inputs into the corn production process, primarily in
the form of increased use of fertilizers and irrigation.
"As we re-open previously dormant land to produce corn for ethanol --
we may be unwittingly emitting tons of carbon dioxide with simple land-use
changes," warned Amy Kaleita, assistant professor of agriculture and
bioengineering at Iowa State University. Such a massive increase in corn
production for ethanol poses other serious environmental risks emerging in
the so-called "Dead Zones" in the Gulf of Mexico and the Chesapeake Bay.
Dineen claims that we are close to making cellulosic ethanol a reality,
but Robert Bryce, a fellow with the Institute for Energy Research, wrote,
"cellulosic ethanol is akin to the tooth fairy: it's an entity that many
believe in, but no one ever actually sees. There are plenty of believers in
cellulosic ethanol, but there's no reason to expect that the industry will
be able to grow fast enough." ("The Senate's Ethanol Delusion," Energy
Tribune).
These are legitimate concerns that require serious thought before
Congress mandates the use of billions of gallons of renewable fuels. The
breakthroughs in technology necessary to produce new energy sources will
come from entrepreneurs and innovators. Academic energy experts are
researching and evaluating the best options to secure a robust supply of
energy well into America's future. The free market should pick the next
great technology, not the lawmakers and lobbyists on Capitol Hill.
The Institute for Energy Research (IER) (http://www.energyrealism.org)
was founded in 1989 to conduct historical research and evaluate public
policies in the oil, gas, coal, and electricity markets. Click here for
more information (http://factsonenergy.com).
SOURCE Institute for Energy Research
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CONTACT:
Bill Riggs, +1-202-772-2189,
briggs@dcgpr.com, for Institute for Energy Research
