SIOUX FALLS - An
energy bill set for debate on the floor of the U.S. Senate during
the next couple of weeks could provide a big boost to the rapidly
expanding ethanol industry, Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said
Saturday.
Legislation passed
by the Senate Energy and Natural Resource Committee last month
would require refineries to produce and use at least 36 billion
gallons of renewable fuels by 2022. The current renewable fuels
standard is more short-term, calling for 7.5 billion gallons by
2012.
"That would be a
huge expansion of the RFS," Thune said Saturday.
Thune said he hopes
the final energy bill will also include provisions to
increase the use of E-85, a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15
percent gasoline that runs in specially made flex fuel
vehicles.
He and fellow Sen.
Barack Obama, D-Ill., have introduced legislation to reimburse gas
station owners for replacing regular gas tanks with tanks for
alternative fuel, such as E-85 and biodiesel.
E-85 has faced some
opposition from American oil refiners, who say it gives vehicles
only about 75 percent of the energy content of regular
gas.
Flex fuel vehicles,
which are becoming more widely available, are built to handle the
high alcohol content of E-85, which can damage a regular vehicle's
rubber and plastic parts over time.
General Motors
expects to roll out 400,000 flex fuel cars and trucks this year,
while Chrysler plans to build 500,000 and Ford
250,000.
Thune said he'd
also like to see a wind production tax credit, set to expire in
2008, extended through 2012.
The Renewable
Energy Production Tax Credit provides a 2 cent-per-kilowatt-hour
tax credit for renewable electricity production, but the incentive
has been allowed to lapse every one or two years.
Thune said the tax
credit makes wind energy more competitive with other forms of
energy such as coal, hydroelectric and natural gas.
"I think we can get
it extended. The question is can we get it extended that far,"
Thune said.
Thune said Congress
should also extend the 54-cent-per-gallon tariff on foreign
ethanol, set to expire at the end of 2008, through
2010.
