Ethanol industry deserves support

Thursday, July 13, 2006

The Wisconsin State Journal editorialized in response to the study below that found that ethanol wasn't a cure all:

Wisconsin should proceed full speed ahead with plans to boost production of ethanol and other fuels made from renewable sources.

Ethanol may not be a cure-all for America's energy problems, but its benefits more than justify the Doyle administration's plans for more state incentives to encourage production and use of ethanol, expand the fledgling biodeisel industry and support further biofuel development.

A thriving ethanol industry can enhance the state's and nation's energy security and independence from foreign oil, it can provide a renewable supply of fuel, and it can create jobs and income in Wisconsin.

Two events in the past week have ignited an ethanol debate - again. On Friday, Gov. Jim Doyle fueled support for ethanol when he endorsed a report from the Governor's Consortium on Bio-based Industry calling for 25 percent of the state's transportation fuel to be alternative fuel, including ethanol, by 2025.

Doyle also outlined plans to reach the 25 percent goal by encouraging ethanol, biodiesel and other biofuels.

But on Monday, opponents of ethanol were energized by national news coverage of an alternative fuels analysis from the University of Minnesota. The analysis warned that ethanol cannot solve all the nation's energy problems.

The analysis, however, was far from a condemnation of ethanol. In fact, the lead author of the Minnesota study declared that biofuels, including ethanol, "have a significant potential."

Nothing in the analysis should dissuade Wisconsin lawmakers from pursuing the course laid out by the Governor's Consortium. The plan does not expect ethanol to be a cure-all. But it recognizes ethanol's significant potential as a home-grown alternative to gasoline made from foreign oil.

The plan also supports biodiesel, which the Minnesota analysis said is preferable to corn ethanol. And the plan calls for Wisconsin to become the first state in the nation to build a plant to produce ethanol from wood, which the Minnesota researchers concluded is a better source of ethanol than is corn.

In addition, Wisconsin lawmakers should revisit a proposal, supported by Doyle, to require that most gasoline in Wisconsin be blended with ethanol to produce E10, a fuel that is 10 percent ethanol. That proposal failed to pass the Legislature earlier this year.

No, the United States will not be able to replace all its gasoline with corn ethanol. But ethanol, produced from corn and other sources, can make an important contribution to weaning the nation from foreign oil while boosting Wisconsin's economy.

Ethanol should be part of Wisconsin's energy future.