(WASHINGTON, D.C.) U.S. Senator Jim Talent (R-Mo.), Co-Chair of the Senate Biofuels Caucus, today chaired a Senate Energy Committee hearing on the implementation of the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS), which was included in the Energy bill. The hearing also addressed additional opportunities to develop and deploy technologies for the production of renewable fuels, such as ethanol, ethanol from cellulosic biomass and biodiesel. Sen. Talent championed the RFS in the Senate, which calls for 7.5 billion gallons of ethanol, biodiesel and other renewables to the Nation's fuel supply by 2012.
"I am committed to the use of renewable fuels and I see ethanol and biodiesel as key components of a national strategy to reduce our dependence on imported oil," said Sen. Talent. "Today, renewable fuels represent the single most important value-added market for farmers. The rapidly increased demand for grain used in ethanol and biodiesel processing has improved farm income, created jobs in the agricultural sector, and revitalized numerous rural communities where biorefineries are located."
The Committee heard from five witnesses all of whom consistently outlined in their testimonies robust growth and a prominent outlook for the future of the renewable fuels industry. They lauded the RFS as one of the major reasons that the industry has experienced such growth.
"The Renewable Fuels Standard has done exactly what Congress intended," said Chris Standlee, Executive Vice President and General Counsel for Abengoa Bioenergy Corporation, based in Chesterfield, Missouri, and Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Renewable Fuels Association. "It has provided our industry with the stimulation to expand and to attract federal and private funds for the all important research and development. It also convinced the petroleum industry that ethanol would be a significant part of future motor fuel markets and moved them toward incorporating renewable fuels into their future plans."
Today, ethanol is produced in 101 biorefineries with the capacity to process more than 1.7 billion bushels of grain into nearly 4.7 billion gallons of fuel. Ethanol is currently blended into more than 40 percent of the nation's fuel supply and sold all across the U.S. The industry has also created an estimated 153,725 jobs in all sectors of the economy to date.
Renewable fuels, in addition to adding jobs and stimulating economic activity in rural communities across 19 different states, are also meeting high emission standards which have been put in place by the EPA.
"Biodiesel is one of the best-tested alternative fuels in the country and the only alternative fuel to meet all of the testing requirements of the 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act," said Joe Jobe, Chief Executive Officer of the National Biodiesel Board. "The incentives included in the energy bill have sparked major growth in the biodiesel industry and I appreciate Sen. Talent's leadership on this issue."
Biodiesel production and sales have grown from an estimated 25 million gallons in 2004, to an expected 150 million gallon in 2006. Likewise, investment in biodiesel production has grown from 22 biodiesel plants in 2004 to more than 65 biodiesel plants currently. There are over 50 plants currently under construction. |
