USA - Government Fuel Goals Will Require Higher Ethanol Blends, Study Concludes

A new report on biofuels is urging that better infrastructure and more aggressive policies necessary if the nation is to meet its mandates for ethanol and other alternative fuels.

The report, by the National Commission on Energy Policy, argues that the nation needs to increase the amount of ethanol blended into gasoline, as well as make it easier for biofuels plants and pipelines to get government permits and make it easier to transport ethanol.

The “renewable fuels standard” calls for Americans to use 36 billion gallons of biofuel in 2022, up from the current 9 billion today.

The report cited a need for more “flex-fuel” vehicles that can fill up with 85 percent ethanol, as well as more gasoline stations offering the fuel. Currently an estimated 1 percent of gas stations around the country offer flex fuel, according to the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition.

In addition, a higher blend of ethanol will be needed for regular cars, the report said. Currently many stations around the country provide a 10 percent ethanol blend, but the industry is pushing the Environmental Protection Agency to lift that “blend wall” by a few percentage points.

Moving ethanol long distances is also a challenge. Currently most ethanol travels by rail, truck or barge — and there is only one, small ethanol pipeline in the country (ethanol’s ability to attract water makes it hard to channel through pipelines).

Improvements such as better off-loading facilities at blending terminals along train lines, and remedying the country’s shortage of truck drivers, could help the industry.

Most members of the task force that put together the biofuels report are from the oil and pipeline industries, and the study avoids the controversial question of whether or not corn ethanol — the main source of alternative fuels today in this country — is a desirable fuel. Many environmentalists have criticized corn ethanol for its environmental costs, although the government timeline calls for corn ethanol production to plateau as cellulosic ethanol production increases.

Although the report emphasizes that it is important for industry to know that the government is serious about enforcing the biofuels targets, the cellulosic mandate already looks to be falling short.

Next year, the country is supposed to produce 100 million gallons of advanced biofuel — that is, fuel derived mainly cellulosic ethanol, made from corn cobs, switchgrass or other non-corn items. Currently — as my colleague Clifford Krauss has written — there are no commercial-scale cellulosic plants, though a few are under construction.

Meanwhile, as my colleague’s article also mentions, the corn ethanol industry — hit by volatile corn and gasoline prices — is in bad shape too.