(May 18, 2010)  Seville, Spain – Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Bob Dinneen will once again address world ethanol leaders at the World Biofuels 2010 conference in Seville, Spain, sponsored by F.O. Licht on Wednesday, May 19.  In anticipated remarks, Dinneen will challenge the misleading claims about American ethanol production, including its relative cost-competitiveness with other producers such as Brazil.

Note: You can follow Dinneen’s meetings with world ethanol leaders via his Twitter account @ethanolbob.

“Despite claims from other ethanol producers, America is the world’s low cost producer of ethanol today,” Dinneen will note. “Advancements in ethanol production technologies together with the unprecedented productivity of American farmers allow American ethanol producers to cost-effectively supply domestic markets and increasingly those around the world.” Recently, ethanol has sold at a discount to gasoline as wide as $0.80 per gallon at wholesale in the U.S., before any tax incentives are incorporated. Together with the tax incentives, American drivers should have enjoyed savings of up to $0.12 per gallon on 10 percent ethanol blends. By comparison, a similar gallon of E10 blended with Brazil ethanol would be $0.11 per gallon more expensive than E10 blended with American ethanol.

Building on this theme, Dinneen will highlight the growing presence of American ethanol producers in the world market. After hearing rumblings of increasing ethanol exports from the U.S., the Renewable Fuels Association notes that exports in 2010 are set to shatter all records for fuel ethanol exports.

“The emergence of U.S. exports of ethanol to markets once dominated by Brazil demonstrates that a true global market for ethanol is developing,” Dinneen is expected to say. “As the low cost producer of ethanol today, America is enjoying the same opportunities that many thought were solely the province of Brazil. Such competition in the world market undermines the continued claims that U.S. and other nations’ ethanol import policies are barriers to trade. Rather, inconsistent policies that vacillate based on the fortunes of domestic ethanol producers introduce the kind of uncertainty that world trade abhors. As the market is clearly showing, consistent policies across the globe will reward the low-cost producer. “

Lastly, Dinneen will directly challenge the deep-flawed and often refuted theory of international land use change (ILUC). First introduced as a way to penalize agriculture and ethanol production in the U.S. in 2008, this theory has undergone intense scrutiny and criticism, even as some countries inducing the U.S. seek to codify this pseudo-science into law. The most recent science on the issue from Purdue University shows a nearly 90 percent reduction in the size of the ILUC penalty imposed on corn starch ethanol first suggested in 2008.

“Holding a domestic industry accountable for the actions of industries in other nations is a notion beyond the pale,” Dinneen will state. “Even more troubling is the apparent willingness of nations, including the United States, to apply this penalty to biofuels alone and giving petroleum and other fossil fuels a free pass. If the Gulf of Mexico tragedy does anything, it should reopen eyes to the dangers –both direct and indirect – of continued petroleum reliance.

While prepared remarks will not be available, the final presentation Dinneen gives in Spain is available here.