Commodity group leaders push for expanded use of biofuels

By Editor | March 30, 2022 |

By DANIEL GRANT
FarmWeek

While the U.S. scrambles to fill the void in the oil market created by the ban of Russian imports, commodity group leaders believe the solution is closer to home than Venezuela or Saudi Arabia.
“If ever there was a time that underscores the need to expand biofuels, this is the time,” Steve Censky, CEO of the American Soybean Association and former USDA deputy secretary, said at Commodity Classic in New Orleans.
“We can grow it. We don’t need to rely on the foreign market,” he noted. “It not only will increase the pool of supply, but we know renewable diesel and biodiesel cut emissions by 60%. Renewable fuels are a win-win.”
Jon Doggett, CEO of the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), echoed those comments when it comes to ethanol.
“President Biden doesn’t need to call Venezuela or Saudi Arabia to get more oil,” Doggett said at Classic, billed as America’s largest agricultural and educational experience created by farmers, for farmers. “Why go to them when we have renewable energy here that’s good for the environment?”
Both ag group leaders believe there’s plenty of capacity to expand production of biodiesel and ethanol despite tightening global crop stocks.
If a third of the E10 gasoline sold in the U.S. was ratcheted up to an E15 blend, the increase would more than compensate for all the oil and energy previously imported from Russia, according to Doggett. The U.S. banned energy imports from Russia this month in response to its invasion of Ukraine.
“There’s enough corn and ethanol capacity,” the NCGA leader said. “Let consumers decide if they want to buy E15 by allowing sales year-round.”
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators recently introduced a bill, the Home Front Energy Independence Act, which would do that and more.
The Energy Independence Act would make sales of E15 year-round permanent, create a tax credit for higher blends of biofuels, streamline E15 labeling, provide infrastructure funding and extend the biodiesel tax credit three more years.
“The uncertainty of the situation in Ukraine underscores the need for more homegrown biofuels to displace the oil we import from Russia, reducing our nation’s dependence on foreign oil and improving our energy sector,” said Emily Skor, CEO of Growth Energy.
The ag leaders also called on the Biden administration to work on improved market access for U.S. commodities around the world, particularly China, and maintain risk management tools in the next farm bill.
“They buy more (sorghum and soybeans) than all other countries put together,” Tim Lust, CEO of the National Sorghum Processors, said of Chinese buyers. China also emerged as the top importer of U.S. corn last year and increased purchases of beef from the U.S.
“China lifted restrictions on Russian wheat, but they’re still not in compliance with the WTO case we won,” said Chandler Goule, CEO of the National Association of Wheat Growers. “There’s still a lot of issues that need to be resolved with China.”
The World Trade Organization previously ruled against China’s use of tariff-rate quotas for rice, wheat and corn, which the U.S. successfully argued limited market access for American exports.
This story was distributed through a cooperative project between Illinois Farm Bureau and the Illinois Press Association. For more food and farming news, visit FarmWeekNow.com.