Domestic Fuel

The recent criticism of ethanol doesn’t sit too well with the chairman of the National Corn Growers Association. Ken McCauley says the figures used in the article published today in the Kansas City Star, for example, were too vague. He says they didn’t properly represent real data and were spun in such a way to make ethanol a culprit… a culprit of rising food prices, rising gas prices and lower fuel economy.

You can hear my interview with Ken here:
kc-ken-mccauley-08.mp3

Ken is pictured here with Team Ethanol Driver Ryan Hunter-Reay, EPIC Executive Director Toni Nuernberg and EPIC Director of Operations Robert White.

2008 Roadrunner Turbo Indy 300 Photo Album

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Toni Nuernberg is the newest member of the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council. She joined EPIC as the new executive director about 2 months ago, replacing Tom Slunecka after he accepted the offer to become the Vice President of Business Development for KL Process Design Group in South Dakota. We already heard from Toni during EPIC’s press conference on the “Food and Fuel” discussion. But, I took the opportunity to grab ZimmComm’s first one-on-one interview with Toni at the Roadrunner Turbo Indy 300.

You can hear what Toni has to say about joining EPIC and about recent criticism of ethanol here:
kc-toni-nuernberg-08.mp3

2008 Roadrunner Turbo Indy 300 Photo Album

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (5.9MB)

There’s no question that there’s been a media barrage giving ethanol a bad rap. Just today, the Kansas City Star’s cover story focused on criticism of the alternative fuel. That story came just in time for today’s Roadrunner Turbo Indy 300. The entire IndyCar Series runs on nearly 100 percent ethanol fuel. And, leading representatives of the ethanol industry say there’s a reason why the IndyCar series backs ethanol. In fact, they say there are numerous reasons why. More importantly, they say there are a handful of reasons why consumers should support ethanol, despite the media’s recent ethanol scapegoating for rising food and fuel costs. The Ethanol Promotion and Information Council hosted a panel discussion at the Kansas Speedway today to address the recent abundance of “misinformation” about ethanol.

The panel included EPIC’s new Executive Director Toni Nuernberg, CEO and President of ICM Dave Vander Griend, Mike Sobetski with LifeLine Foods, and Greg Krissek with ICM. They argue that ethanol has a negligible impact on food prices, specifically corn. They talk about new technology that proves there isn’t a debate about “food versus fuel” but a discussion about “food and fuel.” And, they say that, despite what critics in the media suggest, ethanol actually keeps gas prices lower.

You can listen to the entire panel discussion here:
kc-epic-08.mp3

2008 Roadrunner Turbo Indy 300 Photo Album

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (36.8MB)

The National Corn Growers Association is voicing strong opposition to Texas Governor Rick Perry’s request for a waiver from the Renewable Fuels Standard.

“If granted, the waiver request made by Gov. Perry today will hurt, not help, U.S. consumers by increasing fuel costs and sending a signal to farmers to plant less grain,” said NCGA President Ron Litterer. “A waiver from the RFS would undoubtedly result in higher gasoline prices and it seems very improbable that grain prices or food prices would be reduced.”

NCGA points to a study released this week by the Center for Agriculture and Rural Development at Iowa State University which found that, “the growth in ethanol production has caused retail gasoline prices to be $0.29 to $0.40 per gallon lower than would otherwise have been the case.”

Given record global demand for corn, a waiver from the RFS would have little or no effect on grain prices for livestock and poultry feeders, Litterer said. Speculative investment in commodity futures markets, record demand for U.S. grain exports, heightened U.S. and global feed demand, and weaker than expected grain crops in Asia and Australia are among the other factors that must also be considered when looking at current grain prices.

The governor of Texas is asking the federal government to cut “skyrocketing” food prices by waiving half of the renewable fuel standard for ethanol made from grain.

Governor Rick Perry said in a statement that such a waiver was “the best, quickest way” to ease rising food costs before lasting damage was done.

The Renewable Fuels Association criticized the governor’s action, saying that reducing the use of ethanol will not appreciably reduce grain prices for livestock producers and food processors in Texas.

“But eliminating 4.5 billion gallons of fuel from the marketplace – as the 50% waiver of the Renewable Fuels Standard sought by Governor Perry would do – will increase gasoline and diesel prices even more. While this may benefit Texas oil companies, it will certainly hurt consumers in Texas and the rest of the country.”

RFA says that Governor Perry is ignoring the conclusions of a Texas A&M report he himself requested. According to the findings of that study, “relaxing the RFS does not result in significantly lower corn prices.” The Texas A&M report also stated that, “The underlying force driving changes in the agricultural industry, along with the economy as a whole, is overall higher energy costs, evidenced by $100 per barrel oil.”

According to RFA President Bob Dinneen, “Tampering, adjusting or removing the requirements will not have the impact on grain prices that Governor Perry seeks, nor will it bring the food price reductions he claims. The skyrocketing price of oil, surging global demand for grains and meat, poor harvests around the globe, and a weakened US dollar are the real factors determining world grain and food prices.”