NCGA Attends ACE Conference in Kansas City (8-14-06)

National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) Ethanol Committee Chairman Bruce Noel and Director of Ethanol and Business Development Geoff Cooper gathered in Kansas City, Mo., for the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) conference and trade show last week to discuss the next steps in the growing ethanol movement.

Nearly 1,600 attended the event, which focused on new developments in distillers grains technology, state legislative efforts pertaining to renewable fuels, implementation of the federal renewable fuels standard, opportunities and challenges for cellulosic ethanol, and risk management.

Noel said most presenters agreed that corn will continue to play a critical role in the future of the industry.

“Several presenters referred to NCGA’s projections of corn accounting for at least 15 billion gallons of ethanol production by 2015,” said Noel. “It is clear that this vision has been adopted by many leaders in the industry. People recognize that we can make a lot more ethanol from corn than we’re making today without radically changing the way we do things.”

Cooper participated on a “Mythbusters” panel and addressed the widespread “food versus fuel” myth.

“There continues to be underlying concerns that corn demand will outstrip supply and the ethanol industry will be taking corn away from other markets,” said Cooper. “NCGA’s participation on this panel helped to provide some facts about corn production and corn growers’ capabilities to meet demand for all markets.”

Keynote speaker Vinod Khosla, founder of Sun Microsystems and numerous other Silicon Valley ventures, outlined an aggressive and optimistic growth strategy for ethanol in which he suggested ethanol could displace total U.S. gasoline demand in the span of 30 years.

Several Corn Belt politicians also addressed attendees, including Sen. Jim Talent (R-Mo.), Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D-Kan.), Gov. Matt Blunt (R-Mo.), Rep. Stephanie Herseth (D-S.D.) and former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.).