Page B—Com Talk, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 11,1995
Ethanol
WASHINGTON, D.C.—To
most Americans, the 1950’s in
Southern California meant sun,
surf, and the Beach Boys.
But to the teenaged Neale
Shaner, who lived there during
the school year, it meant smog.
“Some days, the smog was
so bad, we’d be kept inside dur
ing phys. ed. class. I couldn’t
wait for the end of school, to
return to Nebraska, where my
grandfather had his farm, and
get away from all that contami
nated air,” he said.
Today, Shaner spends his
working days on that same
farm in Fort Calhoun, Neb. the
one his family has owned for
more than 100 years.
“It’s a challenge, being a
farmer,” he said. “There’s the
outdoors...working on your
own...having the chance to
appreciate nature...! can’t think
of anything more satisfying
than looking out and seeing a
field of com or soybean grow
ing that you’re responsible for.
“As a boy, I liked the idea of
being part of the industry that
produced the food Americans
eat. I never thought, though,
back then, that the com I was
growing would also help clean
up the air we breathe.”
Now, as gasoline refiners
prepare for the introduction of
the U.S. Environmental Protec
tion Agency’s RFG (Reformu
lated Gasoline) program in
some four dozen metropolitan
areas around the country, com
stands to play a greater role
than ever before in this coun
try’s environmental efforts, due
to the development of a product
known as ETBE (ethyl tertiary
butyl ether).
ETBE is an oxygenate pro
duced by combining corn
derived ethanol with natural
gas by-products. Blended with
To Play Major Role
gasoline, oxygenates increase
the fuel’s oxygen content,
which makes it burn more
cleanly. This “cleaner bum”
helps to reduce emissions of
the harmful pollutants associat
ed with conventional gasolines.
Since all the oxygen in
ETBE comes from ethanol, it
takes the same amount of
ethanol to “oxygenate” a gallon
of gas with ETBE as it does
using ethanol alone. However,
when ethanol is blended into
ETBE, some of its properties
change. ETBE bums as cleanly
as ethanol, but since it is a
petroleum hybrid, it is 100 per
cent compatible with gasoline
—so, unlike ethanol, it can be
transported via the pipeline
systems that supply gasoline to
much of the country. And
instead of increasing gasoline’s
evaporation rate —a character
istic of ethanol that had limited
its use ETBE reduces it.
For American com farmers
and ethanol producers, ETBE
is the breakthrough they’ve
been waiting for.
Ever since 1979, when
ethanol was first used to
enhance octane and extend fuel
supplies, farmers’ hopes for the
corn-derived product have
sprung eternal. However,
ethanol’s chemical properties
have limited its use to splash
blending as gasohol. Wider dis
tribution via the major pipeline
system supplying suph fuel
hungry gasoline markets as the
Northeastern United States was
prevented by ethanol’s affinity
for water.
Growth beyond local splash
blending markets was further
limited by increased restric
tions on vapor pressure, includ
ing stringent RFG criteria
intended to reduce air pollution
caused by evaporation as well
as exhaust emissions. Since
ethanol increases gasoline’s
evaporation rate, it appeared
that ethanol’s role could be fur
ther diminished by RFG
requirements. Yet paradoxical
ly, corn farmers and ethanol
producers now see that same
low vapor pressure require
ment as opening the way to
new markets for ethanol.
“ETBE is the key,” said
Shaner, a former president of
the Nebraska Ethanol Board.
“Vapor pressure was a major
hurdle to California and other
warm weather markets. But
now that ethanol can be used to
create an oxygenate that actual
ly lowers vapor pressure, those
earlier restrictions on ethanol’s
potential markets no longer
exist. We now have an oxy
genate that makes as much
sense to refiners as it does to
farmers.”
According to Gary Gold
berg, president of the American
Com Growers Association,
ETBE will allow farmers to
more fully benefit from the
EPA’s ROR (Renewable Oxy
gen Requirement), which calls
for 30 per cent of the oxy
genates used in reformulated
fuels to be derived from renew
able feedstocks, such as com.
“The figures we’ve looked
at indicate a sizeable increase
in the bushels of corn convert
ed into ethanol. Right now,
we’re only using about 400
million bushels a year—but we
expect that to increase to about
750 million bushels to meet
Ag-Chem Covers All Your Spraying Needs From
Leinbach
Farm Supply
Shippensburg, PA
717-532-5511
1-800-346-2334
Webb’s Super-Gro
Mill Hall, PA
717-726-425
€®IM TPMJK HIWS
RFG provisions. And that’s
because ETBE is the only oxy
genate out there that can meet
both vapor pressure and fuel
renewability requirements.”
But corn farmers and
ethanol producers still have
work to do before growing into
these new markets, said Shan
er. “There’s a big job to do in
educating the public about
ethanol and ETBE; you have to
show people that the benefits
are really there. And not just
their environmental benefits,
which have been demonstrated
over and over again, but their
positive impact on the farm
economy, how they make our
country more energy-self-suffi
cient, and how they create
more jobs.”
One significant hurdle still
to be overcome, said Goldberg,
is the current federal income
tax credit structure. “The prob
lem of tax credits has to be
addressed; the way the code is
currently written, the only one
who gets a tax break from using
ETBE is the refiner who sells
reformulated gasoline into the
marketplace. While we support
this credit, the fact is that the
current tax status of many
refiners will prevent them from
taking advantage of it. Because
of this, we feel that only the
way to ensure that the tax code
Parts to Short Lr
Serving The Farming Industry
For Over 31 Years.
1188 Enterprise Rd.
East Petersburg, PA 17520
. '• CALL FOR MORE INFORMATION
2S£. h "IT 1 569-2610
SI
Plant Food Co.
Cranbury, NJ
609-448-0935
Stoltzfus
Morgantown, PA
215-286-5146
Delmar Grain
Delmar, DE
302-846-9567
supports the commercial via
bility of ETBE is to broaden
this tax credit to include ETBE
producers.
“It should be clear that the
future of the ethanol industry
lies in full commercialization
of ETBE. Without that, we are
looking at flat growth for the
ethanol industry and for corn
consumption for years to come.
ETBE is the avenue to whole
new markets and unprecedent
ed growth. But we have to
make sure that government, the
public, and the media, and com
farmers understand what is at
stake.
“Everybody benefits. Refin
ers finally get a renewable oxy
genate that they can blend at
the refinery, ensuring greater
quality control and efficien
cies. Com and ethanol produc
ers benefit from expanded mar
kets, which in turn reduces the
need for government subsidies
to corn farmers —a benefit to
taxpayers. And we all benefit
from a cleaner environment.
“The way I see it,” Goldberg
said, “ETBE is the brass ring
for which corn growers have
been waiting for more than a
decade. Right now, we have a
simple choice: we can either
grab this opportunity and make
it work for us —or we can
ignore it and let it pass us by.”
Tri-County
Farm & Home
Bloomsburg, PA
717-437-3440
Smeltzer Equipment
& Supply
Pleasant Gap, PA
814-359-2544
Triple H Equip.
Peach Bottom, PA
717-548-3775
Erb & Henry Equip.
New Berlinville, PA
215-367-2169
Messick Farm Equip
Elizabethtown, PA
717-653-8867