Source: Channel 3000
MONROE, Wis. — Ethanol producers in the state are calling on the federal government to help their industry. They want a piece of a clean energy jobs bill in Congress, but they said that, more importantly, they want to save what they feel is an important green industry.
While the Badger State Ethanol plant in Monroe is doing well, others in the state haven't been so lucky, WISC-TV reported. The industry said it's because of limits on its market, but others said there might not be a great enough demand for ethanol yet.
At Badger State Ethanol in Monroe, people can find pumps with ethanol blends of 85, 25 or 10 percent, but these so-called "blender pumps" aren't found everywhere, WISC-TV reported.
"We need to continue to expand the market for ethanol and right now as an industry, not just here in Wisconsin, but as a country, we now have pretty much totally saturated the 10 percent market," said Gary Kramer, president of Badger State Ethanol.
Incentives for stations to install blender pumps are only part of what the state ethanol industry would like to see the federal government do. Right now, only 10 percent of regular gasoline can be ethanol, and ethanol producers said they would like to see 15 percent.
"It's the difference between us treading water and being very profitable going into the future, and if we're treading water we're not creating any new jobs," said Kramer.
