FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Stage Set for Debate on Ethanol’s Energy Balance

ST. LOUIS (August 5, 2005) — The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) has announced David Pimentel, Tad Patzek and Bruce Dale and John Sheehan have accepted invitations to participate in the “Ethanol/Energy Open Forum” Aug. 23 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

The forum will focus on ethanol’s energy balance, an issue that has been hotly debated in recent years.

Pimentel, a professor emeritus of entomology at Cornell University, and Patzek, a professor in the civil and environmental engineering department at the University of California, Berkeley, recently released a study suggesting that ethanol has a negative energy balance. Dale, a professor of chemical engineering at Michigan State University, and Sheehan, senior chemical engineer with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, insist ethanol has a positive energy balance and dispute the Pimentel and Patzek data.

“We are very pleased that all of the participants have agreed to participate in the open forum,” said Leon Corzine, NCGA president. “There have been a lot of misconceptions about the ethanol industry. Hopefully, this will set the record straight.”

The forum will be one-hour long, with opening statements from each of the panelists, a question-and-answer session with media and closing statements by the panelists.

After the open forum, NCGA will host a “Renewable Energy: Dynamic Possibilities Forum,” which will feature presentations by experts from various industries that have a stake in renewable fuels.

“There is no doubt in my mind the efficiency of the ethanol industry continues to increase with the introduction of new technologies on the farm and in the ethanol plant,” Corzine said. “Studies using current information have revealed ethanol’s efficiency is a good return.”

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The National Corn Growers Association’s mission is to create and increase opportunities for corn growers.  NCGA represents nearly 33,000 members, 45 affiliated state organizations and hundreds of thousands of growers who contribute to state checkoff programs. For more information, log on to www.ncga.com.