National Corn Growers Association First Vice President Ken McCauley participated in a panel discussion on Tuesday on how much ethanol can be produced in the U.S. and how cellulose ethanol can become a reality at the Renewable Fuels Association’s “Renewable Fuels Summit 2006: Growing America’s Energy Security” in Washington, D.C. Joining McCauley on the panel were Bill Lee, Chippewa Valley Ethanol Co. general manager, and John Ashworth of the National Bioenergy Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

NCGA: There’s Enough Corn for Continued Growth of Ethanol Industry (4-26-06)

National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) First Vice President Ken McCauley told more than 400 attendees at the “Renewable Fuels Summit 2006: Growing America’s Energy Security” Tuesday that corn growers envision a future that includes a crop of 15 billion bushels able to produce 15 billion gallons of ethanol without affecting other markets for corn.

“Corn growers are committed to bringing ethanol from the cornfield to the consumer,” McCauley said. “We will have enough corn, and we can meet the president’s goal of replacing more than 75 percent of U.S. oil imports from the Middle East well before 2025.”

NCGA said the base for a 15-billion bushel corn crop is in place and can become a reality through the use of research, technology, biotechnology and improved cropping practices.

“As we see rapid improvements in ethanol production technology and we continue to research new corn utilization and production technology, we will see the supply of corn continue to meet market demands,” McCauley said.

He also noted corn growers will have higher yields without increasing the acreage.

“We can easily see average yields of 178 to 187 bushels per acre within the next 10 years,” McCauley said. “If corn growers produce a 15 billion bushel crop by the market years 2015 to 2016, approximately 5.5 billion bushels would be available for ethanol conversion. At a conservative conversion rate of 2.9 gallons per bushel, this would equate to nearly 16 billion gallons of ethanol, or roughly 10 percent of our nation’s expected gasoline demand.”

McCauley also said we will see even more ethanol being “squeezed” out of a bushel of corn in the years to come, adding potentially 3 gallons per bushel of ethanol to the growing market.

The current average ethanol conversion rate is 2.8 gallons of ethanol per bushel, up from 2.5 gallons per bushel several years ago.

McCauley also met with President George W. Bush at the summit. McCauley said Bush’s call to action for advanced usage of renewable fuels such as ethanol was a message corn growers liked to hear. McCauley emphasized there will be plenty of corn available to fuel U.S. ethanol production.

“In speaking with the president, I again relayed NCGA’s praise and commitment to reducing this country’s dependence on foreign energy sources by providing corn ethanol as a major part in a multi-tiered energy solution,” he said.

McCauley was part of a group of prominent officials who attended the summit, sponsored by the Renewable Fuels Association.

In addition to Bush, Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.) and Reps. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), Jerry Weller, (R-Ill.) and Gil Gutknecht, (R-Minn.) discussed renewable energy legislation being considered by the Senate and the House. Also on hand were a wide variety of industry representatives: RFA President Bob Dinneen; National Biodiesel Board Executive Director Joe Jobe; former director of the Central Intelligence Agency R. James Woolsey; American Petroleum Institute President Red Cavaney; and Elizabeth Lowery of Energy & Environment.