CLEARING THE AIR Ethanol is Not a Bridge—We Are a Main Road

Dave VanderGriend President, Urban Air Initiative CEO, ICM Inc. 316.796.0900

davev@icminc.com

Ethanol is Not a Bridge— We Are a Main Road

For the next Congress and state legislatures across the country, reducing carbon is likely to be a primary focus in 2021. In addition to power plants, singling out gasoline powered vehicles seems to be an easy target. The most recent example is California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s executive order requiring all new passenger vehicles be zero emission by 2035. Obviously, this force-feeds electric vehicles (EVs) in the name of carbon reduction. But this executive order is also assuming that conventional vehicles and fuels cannot do the job.

The basic premise of this approach is wrong, not to mention impractical. With more than 250 million cars in the U.S. today, and 15 million or more being sold annually, the internal combustion engine (ICE) will remain the predominant form of transportation for decades to come. Two million cars are sold every year in California alone. During that time, liquid fuels, in the form of gasoline and ethanol, will be needed.

This is not an exercise to beat up on EVs. There is a role and a place for them in the big picture. But with just 1 million EVs on the road today, they cannot reduce carbon emissions alone. Liquid fuels, powering those hundreds of millions of ICE vehicles on the road and being produced every year, can achieve significant efficiency gains and carbon reductions and need to work together to tell that story. In some circles, biofuels are at best referred to as a “bridge” to EVs, and at worst dismissed altogether.

We are no bridge. We are a main road. High-octane, low-carbon ethanol is an input to refiners to allow their product to meet the efficiency and emission requirements of future transportation programs. The auto industry confirms how higher octane coupled with compression increases can provide measurable benefits, quickly, economically and in vehicles that meet consumer needs and retain personal choices. When that octane is derived from low-carbon ethanol, drastic measures like we are seeing in states like California are unnecessary. And low carbon it is. Study after study proves that corn ethanol reduces carbon by as much as 50% compared to gasoline, which is on par with advanced biofuels. At UAI, we have also studied this issue and, working with other industry partners, have hounded the U.S. EPA to update its models to reflect the best available science that is recognized in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Transportation (GREET) model as well as U.S. Department of Agriculture studies on the true carbon footprint of corn ethanol. Lower energy and fertilizer inputs, higher corn yields, higher yield of ethanol per bushel and many other advances have not been incorporated into EPA’s life cycle analyses.

Failure to make this case that liquid fuels must remain part of the carbon strategy not only concedes the future to EVs but has the potential to devastate the economy. The auto, refining, ethanol, agriculture, retail, transport and related industries represent millions of jobs. Let’s not allow uninformed policy makers to create a false choice of either living with the negative impacts of climate change or eliminating conventional vehicles.

The potential impact of California’s action cannot be overstated. The Golden State has unique authority under the Clean Air Act to establish requirements more stringent than the federal government. Other states can adopt California standards and many states follow California’s lead on air quality issues. Sixteen states, as an example, joined California in suing the federal government to be able to establish their own mileage standards, and California’s Zero Emission Vehicle mandate could wind up in court as well. If they prevail, any state would be able to institute similar ICE bans.

The entire liquid fuel chain needs to work together, starting with ethanol and oil. In doing so, we can make fuel cleaner, less expensive and easily accessible today and into the future.

presents Women in the Ethanol Industry 2020

BRETT SCHULTE

Lab and Environmental Compliance Manager Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy, Council Bluffs, IOWA Though a history major in her liberal arts college days, Brett’s summer jobs helped prepare her for a 15-year career in ethanol. Working at the company where her dad was an engineer, she gained experience in the research and development department and the tech services food lab.

On getting started in ethanol

A couple of years after college graduation, my husband and I wanted to move to western Iowa to be closer to family. That was in 2005, when Amaizing Energy in Denison, Iowa, was being built. I hired on as a lab technician and went through all the startup training. A short time later, they asked if I would start completing all the environmental testing, record keeping and reporting. One of the good things about the ethanol industry is all of the on the job training that is available, from classes held by vendors to workshops or seminars. I came to Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy in 2010 to be Lab and Environmental Compliance Manager, and that is what I do now.

On working in ethanol

It never gets boring around here, because just when you think you are in a routine, something changes and you’re off on a different tangent. For example, with Covid-19 going on, we directed our ethanol supply to used in producing hand sanitizer. That meant working with the Food and Drug Administration to register our ethanol as a pharmaceutical product. We had to create all new

Certi cates of Analysis and learn to use different types of denaturant at customer request.

After the FDA changed their speci cations for hand sanitizer, we then started to learn USP (United States Pharmacopeia) standards and test methods, which are completely different from the fuel ethanol standards and tests. We have purchased some new equipment and are working on being able to produce the higher quality ethanol for hand sanitizer. We have also been working with Health Canada in order to sell ethanol to Canadian companies wanting to produce hand sanitizer.

The industry is always changing—regulations, testing and technologies. An exciting part of my job is that I am always learning as I adapt to an ever-changing environment.

On working with industry partners

BASF’s team is a really a great group. We have worked with Brian

Rayhack, Jeff Carver, Tony Newton and Amanda Huber. They are always willing to offer assistance, whether or not we are buying products from them at the time. BASF tech support is always willing to review our data, lab tests, and our quality tests on corn. They have tested our mash in their labs and made suggestions to improve the process.

On women in ethanol

I have always thought it takes a special type of women to work in the ethanol industry. There are so many wonderful, intelligent, hardworking woman that I have met and worked with. The group of women that we have in ethanol is just amazing. When one needs assistance or advice, we are supportive of each other. Even though we work for different companies, in different roles, we collaborate. It is great the way women support each other in this industry. You do have to be able to t in and assert yourself, but it’s a great industry to work in.