The Washington Compromise

March 3, 2011 |

A unified biofuels policy? The hour is nigh. As Benjamin Franklin was reputed to say at the signing of the Declaration of Independence, “We must, indeed, all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.”

In Washington, Brent Erickson, executive vice president of the Biotechnology Industry Organization’s (BIO) Industrial & Environmental Section released the following statement:

“The rise in the price of oil past $100 per barrel should surprise no one. Oil has been steadily climbing toward $100 per barrel since 2000 – despite its deceptively low price in 2009 – due to competition for energy resources resulting from the growing economic power of various countries around the world. The volatility of oil prices and supplies now threatens to undermine U.S. companies’ and consumers’ confidence and hamper the business expansion and spending needed for our economic recovery.

“The U.S. needs a rational energy policy with the potential for long-term stability in prices. The biobased economy – the use of renewable biomass not just for energy, but also as the building block for biotechnology-enabled manufacturing processes, biofuels, biobased plastics and products and renewable chemicals – offers that potential for stably priced energy and steady economic growth.

“What the United States needs right now is a forward-looking, consistent, long-term energy policy that seeks to ensure stable supplies and prices for transportation fuels and all of the other products that currently come from each barrel of oil. U.S. energy policy should expand the market for renewables and give clear signals to companies and investors that innovative technologies for alternatives will have every opportunity to succeed.”

The Digest says: Right on, brother, but what does it mean?

The zillion proposals on the table

Earlier this week, a coalition of 90 organizations said that the US biofuels policy should include no supports for expanding the market for ethanol. Growth Energy and its brethren have asked for investment in blender pumps and a flex-fuel car mandate. For the CEA, there is the production tax credit, or the investment tax credit. ABFA calls for reform on loan guarantees, and science calls for increased grant activity. There is the biomass crop support program, now on the chopping block in the Congress. There are incentives, tariffs, mandates, and subsidies.

No wonder Congress is confused. The Digest is confused. And Washington is reminding us more and more of the mother of 12 un-weaned puppies after the umpteenth request for an extra meal. Grrr-rrruph!

Moving construction out of the slow lane

Taken as a whole, the current regime has not resulted in a robust advanced biofuels industry – rather the science is moving forward at an incredible pace, but construction of commercial scale facilities moves at a pace resembling that of medieval cathedrals.

There are those who dread “opening the Renewable Fuel Standard”, or other forms of comprehensive Congressional action – on the “opening a can of worms” basis. That’s fair. But Congress goes awry when the country is not unified around a set of principles, and those principles can be defined, agreed and advanced by stakeholders.

We know that those efforts are underway among several major biofuels associations, and we salute those tireless efforts. What is needed is a deadline, and a focal point.

The Year of Decisions

We have titled the theme of the Advanced Biofuels Leadership Conference “The Year of Decisions”. Decision number one – a unified policy on biofuels. As Benjamin Franklin was reputed to say at the signing of the Declaration of Independence, “We must, indeed, all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.”

So we call on all corners of the industry – by April 19th, in the city of Washington, when we gather for the opening session – to hammer out, sign, publish, and stand-by a draft compromise that represents a unified policy ask with which the industry can prosper.  We call for a material advance towards that post-oil society, and in particular de-carbonized road fuel, for which there is broad support, hope and need coast-to-coast and beyond the shores. At the conference, we will make the time necessary to bring that draft forward to a final policy upon which the industry can agree.

There never was a bad peace, or a good war

We also ask those who oppose some – but not all biofuels – to join hands in that effort, so as to define the waste-free society that must emerge. In particular, we call out to our brothers and sisters in the broader green movement – remembering that long before we were a basket of industries and causes, we were one cause and one movement. We can remain so if we continue to find common ground instead of issues that divide us.

It is so easy to shoot down alternatives and make perfect the enemy of good. But now is the hour for action, and the hour for good.

Category: Fuels

Thank you for visting the Digest.