I feel pretty close to this one, we formed a small grass roots group to pester our state reps. into this legislation. All of this happend in less than three weeks.



House Dems want to offer tax credits for biodiesel, ethanol products

AMY F. BAILEY

Associated Press

LANSING, Mich. - As gas prices inch closer to $3 per gallon, Democrats in the Michigan House unveiled legislation Tuesday that would eventually require all gasoline sold in the state to be mixed with fuel made mostly of corn.

The legislation is intended to reduce the dependency on foreign oil and cut the price of a gallon of gas in the state, which hit an average $2.70 for self-serve, unleaded on Monday.

"We need to take serious steps to relieve the pain at the pump we're all feeling," said Rep. John Espinoza of Croswell, who introduced a bill that would provide tax credits to gas stations and others that produce ethanol and blend it with gasoline to make it burn cleaner.

House Democrats laid out the details of their six-bill package Tuesday at news conferences in Lansing, Bay City, Port Huron and Petoskey. The bills themselves should be drafted and introduced within weeks, said House Democratic spokesman Dan Farough.

Under their proposal, Michigan in 2007 would join two states - Minnesota and Montana - that require much of the gasoline sold within their borders to include 10 percent ethanol, said Farough. Hawaii will have a similar requirement in 2006, he said.

House Democrats also want to require that biodiesel, which is made from soybeans, make up 5 percent of diesel fuel beginning Dec. 31, 2006.

Democratic representatives said their proposal will benefit Michigan farmers who grow soybeans and corn. About 40 percent of the corn grown in the Thumb region already goes to an ethanol plant in Caro, House Democrats said.

Sugar is a third source of energy produced in the state; it can be converted into an alcohol-based fuel blend that is efficient and environmentally friendly, Democrats said.

Two gas stations in Michigan - in Dimondale and Rochester Hills - sell fuel that is 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline, or E85, according to the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition Web site. The number of stations offering alternative fuel could grow in the coming years because three Michigan companies are planning to build biodiesel plants, Farough said.

Democrats also want to promote the use of alternative fuel vehicles by encouraging Gov. Jennifer Granholm to use E85 fuel or hybrids - powered by gasoline and electricity - made by American auto companies in the state's fleet of vehicles.

Jason Brewer, a spokesman for Republican House Speaker Craig DeRoche of Novi, said the speaker will review the Democratic bills when they are officially introduced. He pointed out that Rep. Neal Nitz, R-Baroda, already has introduced legislation that would require diesel fuel sold in the state to have at least 2 percent biodiesel.

Brewer criticized House Democrats for introducing the alternative fuel package after voting in June to close loopholes in the tax structure that now limit taxes on low-producing oil wells and change the way oil and gas royalty incomes are taxed. The changes were not approved by the full House, where Republicans have a 58-52 majority.

"The Democrats' proposal might seem more credible if they had not voted to increase taxes on domestic energy producers by $7 million," Brewer said.

DEMS???? Really? Say it ain't so!!! The REPS are going to have a cow!

I don't know about biodiesel but isn't ethanol energy negative, i.e. it takes more energy to produce it than yield.

Does it take more energy to produce a gallon of ethanol than the energy we get out of it?

Response:

No. This has been a common misconception of the ethanol industry, that it takes more energy to make ethanol than is available to the final consumer. Remember, ethanol is produced from plant matter, today dominated by corn, wheat, potatoes, sorgum, etc. Plants grow through the use of energy provided by the sun and are a renewable resources. In the future, ethanol will be produced from waste products or "energy crops." In fact, a partner of the NEVC, BC International (BCI), is currently constructing an ethanol production plant in Louisiana that will use sugar cane waste to produce ethanol. Additionally, BCI is considering the establishment of ethanol production facilities in California that would use the waste hulls from rice growers and wood waste from the forrest industry to produce ethanol. Energy crops such as perennial switch grasses, timothy, and other high-output/low-input crops will be used in the future.

Current research prepared by Argonne National Laboratory (a U.S. Department of Energy Laboratory), indicates a 38% gain in the overall energy input/output equation for the corn-to-ethanol process. That is, if 100 BTUs of energy is used to plant corn, harvest the crop, transport it, etc., 138 BTUs of energy is available in the fuel ethanol. Corn yields and processing technologies have improved significantly over the past 20 years and they continue to do so, making ethanol production less and less energy intensive.

Try walking around without the blinders someday, the Repubs have a good position as well.