Source: Ethanol Producer Magazine
Just two weeks after USDA released its “Regional Roadmap to Meeting the Biofuels Goals of the Renewable Fuels Standard,” it now has a short video, touting the importance of ethanol and other biofuels in reducing U.S. dependence on fossil fuels.
The ethanol industry needs to go national, said Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, in the video. To build the 527 biorefineries the USDA estimates will be needed to meet the goal of 36 billion gallons by 2022, a variety of feedstocks will need to be used, depending on the strengths of that region. “It’s an opportunity for us to make sure that … ethanol is more readily available to folks in all parts of the country and all four corners of the country,” he said in the video.
USDA has also indicated that infrastructure is an important part of the success of biofuels. “There are a number of potential barriers and bottlenecks in the current ethanol use supply chain,” the report said. “While we expect the market to respond to the infrastructure needs of a growing industry, we recognize that the path from production to actual consumption presents challenges that will need to be anticipated and addressed.”
Besides additional blender pumps, the U.S. needs infrastructure to distribute ethanol by rail or truck as well as blending terminals and storage facilities. The report also singled out California, Texas and Florida as possible primary targets for more blender pumps and flex-fuel vehicles.
You can view this video on Growth Energy's multimedia page.
