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June 1, 2001

There's an 'ag' answer to energy crisis

By Mike Barnett
Editor

Remember 1973...high gasoline prices, long lines at the pump, concern over our dependence on foreign oil? Our nation finds itself in the same situation today (although long lines at the gas pump haven't materializ-ed...yet).

High gasoline, natural gas, and electricity prices are further dampening an already weakened U.S. economy. Farmers struggle with soaring fertilizer prices and have cut back on irrigation or planted less profitable crops because of the high cost of running the irrigation pumps.

Would our country be in this mess today if ethanol and other biomass fuels had been taken more seriously during our "first" energy crisis? Perhaps not. Although the ethanol industry was born during that crisis, it has never been given the chance to really develop and mature.

The opportunity is now at hand as the Bush administration is working toward a comprehensive national energy policy. There is an opportunity to show the Bush team and Congress that biomass fuels can be part of the solution and can indeed lessen our dependence on foreign energy sources.

Today, renewable fuels such as biodiesel and ethanol exceed 2 billion gallons annually, replacing about 130,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

Estimates by the National Corn Growers Association show that with a concerted effort on the part of the administration, Congress and the private sector, renewable fuel sources like ethanol can increase supply from about 1 percent to 3 percent of transportation fuels and displace 500,000 to 600,000 barrels of crude oil on an energy-content basis by 2011.

Further developing biomass fuels would promote a number of energy, environmental and public policy goals.

•It would decrease the need for petroleum products, reducing the stress on U.S. refineries and reducing consumer gasoline costs.

•It would help achieve clean air quality goals across the country by reducing carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon, nitrogen oxide and toxic emmissions.

•Because ethanol and biodiesel are produced by renewable resources, they are the most efficient means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from motor fuels.

• Finally, developing biomass fuels as part of a comprehensive energy policy could not only help considerably with the nation's energy problems, but could also bolster the bottom line for farm income. The American Farm Bureau Federation estimates that using ethanol only as a fuel oxygenate in place of the groundwater-contaminating and pretroleum-based MTBE, would increase net farm income $12 billion and raise the average price of corn by 14 cents a bushel. And a 1 percent share of the diesel fuel market by biodiesel would increase soybean demand by 250 million bushels and increases soybean prices by 30 cents a bushel.

American agriculture and organizations like the American Farm Bureau Federation and the Texas Farm Bureau have an opportunity in the upcoming energy policy debate to advance the cause of domestically produced biomass fuels. Ethanol and biodiesel are good for the environment. They'd be good for the economy, our national security, and for farm income.

Of course the current energy crisis is a problem in the cash-starved agriculture economy. But it should also be viewed as an opportunity. Farmers grow part of the solution. Agriculture has the clear ability to supply the fuels needed. And farmers and ranchers and our organizations need to push that agenda as the administration and Congress become increasingly involved in the energy debates.