NCGA’s
Tolman Talks Renewable Energy with World Ag Leaders (5-19-05)
National Corn
Growers Association (NCGA) CEO Rick Tolman joined more than 200
agriculture leaders from around the globe at the World Agricultural
Forum World Congress in St. Louis this week. Tolman was one of five
industry panelists in a roundtable discussion on the successes of
bioenergy.
“The focus of the
roundtable was on renewable energy and its impact on rural economic
development,” said Tolman. “This group included people
from all over the world who are interested in growing the rural
economy and doing good things for agriculture.”
Tolman said Brazil and
Europe have tremendous success stories that allowed their renewable
energy industries to grow, something the U.S. has not done yet.
Because of the strides Brazil has made in increasing its total energy
production, he was able to compare what the U.S. has done and connect
with a group of countries in an unusual way.
“Brazil decided
as a national policy they would not be subject to imported oil and
mandated that every filling station would have alcohol fuels. The
government stepped in to make that happen,” said Tolman. “Right
now 67 percent of vehicles in Brazil are flexible fuels vehicles
that can run on 100 percent gasoline or 100 percent ethanol. It
was a great opportunity to point out that the U.S. is really an
underdeveloped country in terms of what Brazil has done and what
Europe has done with biodiesel.”
Tolman says the transformation
Brazil has made in domestic renewable fuels use since the energy
crisis of the 1980s is impressive. He said Brazil has saved an estimated
$53 billion because nearly 80 percent of the country's energy needs
are produced domestically. Therefore Brazil isn't relying on foreign
energy sources.
Tolman noted that what
the United States can do to catch up with what Brazil and Europe
have done is to have a renewable fuels standard (RFS) enacted into
law. An RFS, Tolman said would be a floor under the renewable fuels
industry that would go out to year 2012 which would shows some measured
growth and allows an investment horizon. Tolman also said it would
give farmers and the industry the opportunity to go out and attract
finance capitol and commitment to investing in the ethanol industry
so it can grow in a rational way.