Chicago Tribune, IL
04-12-07
Expert: Subsidies key for non-corn ethanol
Bloomberg News
WASHINGTON -- Ethanol made from crops other than corn won't account for any
U.S. biofuel production before 2016 without new government subsidies, an Iowa
State University researcher said Wednesday.
"Switchgrass never works, biodiesel never works, because the acres you'd use
for that are better used for corn," based on crop yields and farmer profits,
agricultural economist Dermot Hayes said at a conference sponsored by
Informa Economics Inc.
Cellulosic ethanol production is a key part of President Bush's goal of increasing
supplies of renewable and alternative fuels to 35 billion gallons a year by 2017.
U.S. consumption of corn-based ethanol and cellulosic ethanol from farm waste
will reach about 17 billion gallons by that year, according to Energy Department
forecasts.
Dermot's unreleased study projects corn ethanol use of about 15 billion gallons
by 2017.
The report is sponsored by trade groups whose members include Decatur, Ill.based Archer Daniels Midland Co., the world's largest ethanol processor.
The U.S. has 115 operating ethanol distilleries, and an additional 79 plants and
seven expansions are under construction, according to the Washington-based
Renewable Fuels Association.