BioFuels Journal

Dear Senators Reid and McConnell, and Representatives Pelosi and Boehner:

As you consider legislation to provide federal financial aid to the U.S. automotive sector, the grassroots members of the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) write to express our strong support for the inclusion of policies that will not only help the automakers to succeed financially, but that will also provide consumers with more clean fuel, ensure the commercialization of cellulosic biofuels, and make the United States more energy and economically secure by reducing the use of petroleum.

ACE is a national grassroots coalition of ethanol advocates.

With more than 1500 member companies, organizations, and individuals, ACE members employ nearly 1 million Americans and have a direct impact on 10 million others.

We believe there is a pressing need to provide financial assistance to U.S. automakers.

Automakers represent a critical part of America’s economy and it is imperative that we do all we can to help ensure that they have a strong future.

Congress can help realize that future by considering the inclusion of provisions in the assistance package that will guarantee clean biofuels are available for the greener fleet of vehicles these companies plan to assemble.

In doing so, you will also create green jobs and develop a reliable market for American-made biofuels, particularly cellulosic-based ethanol.

In order to continue current progress toward making cellulosic biofuel a commercial reality, we recommend that the financial assistance package guarantee that fuel retailers can dispense 15 percent ethanol blends and require auto companies to stand by warranties for car owners that choose to use such blends.

Without expanding the current market to include 15 percent blends, no market will be available for cellulosic ethanol, and investment in this new technology will grind to a halt while automakers retool to produce more flexible fuel vehicles.

Current law places an arbitrary limit on the volume of renewable ethanol permitted in a gallon of gasoline to just ten percent, commonly referred to as an E10 blend.

As biofuel production expands, ethanol use will collide with the “E10 blend wall,” a mathematical and practical restriction on the use of ethanol in gasoline.

In other words, in 2009, every gallon of motor fuel that can contain ten percent ethanol will contain ten percent ethanol.

As a result, the market for biofuel will come to a standstill and investment in cellulosic biofuel will come to an end.

Allowing up to 15 percent ethanol in gasoline will not only overcome the E10 blend wall problem, it will:

• Ensure demand for both corn-based ethanol and cellulosic biofuels because it will lift a restriction on the use of these fuels, developing new clean-fuel markets

• Stimulate the economy by creating thousands if not millions of green-collar jobs to research, deploy, and commercialize cellulosic and advanced biofuels

• Keep one billion more of our fuel dollars in the United States, generating greater domestic economic activity and more opportunities for American workers

• Create thousands of manufacturing and infrastructure jobs as hundreds of new cellulosic biofuel facilities are constructed over the next 15 years

• Help meet the goals of the 2007 energy bill to reduce the use of fossil fuels

ACE members want domestic automakers to prevail in overcoming the financial stress caused by the credit collapse and economic downturn, and we believe it is in the public interest for Congress to help the auto companies succeed.

Increasing the use of ethanol in gasoline up to 15 percent can complement your goals to retool the auto industry to make it more competitive and meet important taxpayer protections.

We hope you will give careful consideration to this request.

Sincerely, Brian Jennings,

Executive Vice President American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE)

For more information, call 605-334-3381.

See Related Websites/Articles:

• ACE

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