Bill would expand use of renewable fuel

03/19/2005

March 18, 2005

Minnesota farmers who are investing heavily in the ethanol industry moved one step closer Thursday to securing a bigger market for their gasoline substitute.

On Thursday, U.S. Sens. Dick Lugar, R-Indiana, and Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, introduced a bipartisan bill aimed at expanding the nation’s renewable fuels standard (RFS) agreement.

Minnesota Sens. Mark Dayton and Norm Coleman are among 19 co-sponsors on the new bill, which would double the use of ethanol and other renewable fuels nationwide by 2012.

The bill would require the use of 4 billion gallons of renewable fuels, such as ethanol and biodiesel, in 2006, and increase the nation’s use to 8 billion gallons by 2012. Those products are made with corn and soybeans, which are Minnesota’s leading crops.

The United States now has capacity to produce 3.7 billion gallons of ethanol and biodiesel, which proponents say help to reduce the nation’s reliance on foreign oil while adding value to crops.

Minnesota now has 13 ethanol plants that produce about 400 million gallons of the fuel. Three more are under construction.