Cornholed: Congress and Renewable Fuels

Corn is a major political force

"NGVAmerica is concerned that one of the major provisions of the bill will not be able to achieve its goal of displacing 36 billion gallons of foreign oil. The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) would require the use of 36 billion gallons of renewable fuel to power vehicles by 2022. By statute and physical production limitations, corn-based ethanol would be capped at 15 billion gallons per year. Physical production constraints also would limit soy-based biodiesel to no more than 3 billion gallons per year. It is envisioned that the rest – 18 billion gallons – would be produced from cellulosic biofuels. Today, there are no commercial-scale cellulosic biofuels plants operating in the U.S., and it is unrealistic to assume that an industry that could produce 18 billion gallons of fuel per year could develop in just the next 15 years. The House, realizing this, included waivers in their bill to lower the oil displacement goal, if necessary."

While I'm not a huge advocate of the natural gas movement, I think they point out some great problems - more problems - with the energy bill that the House has sent to the Senate.