ND conference: US Energy Secretary says ethanol mandates might be necessary; Sen Dorgan touts E85 tax incentives; ND fuel marketers ask for E85 pump conversion grants

Speaking in North Dakota, US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said that government mandates are less than ideal but might be necessary to boost the use of alternative fuels. “Sure, I’d like to get things done without mandates,” Bodman was quoted in chron.com as saying, adding that mandates are “proven to be a requirement in order to get a lot of these things done more effectively,” he said.

Speaking at the same conference, Sen. Dorgan touted his legislation to set up tax incentives to stimulate installation of E85 pumps, the lack of which are a primary opportunity for ethanol expansion. But Mike Rud, president of the North Dakota Petroleum Marketers Association, said that fuel marketers need upfront incentive money, not tax incentives, because fuel marketers don’t make money at the pump and so tax incentives are not helpful. Rud added that there are only about two dozen E85 pumps in North Dakota and that there is little demand from consumers to add more.

Meanwhile, two 55 Mgy ethanol plants are seeking grants from the North Dakota Agricultural Products Utilization Commission. Lakota Biofuels and Buffalo Creek Energy are each seeking $100,000 for business planning and accounting. The Lakota project has a projected cost of $171 million and Buffalo Creek $109 million.

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