Posted on: March 29, 2012 in Ethanol, Renewable Fuel Standard

The following is a Letter to the Editor of the New York Times.

Editor:

Your article on the recent domestic oil and gas boom (U.S. Inches Toward Goal of Energy Independence, March 22) portrayed increased fracking and deep water drilling as the main driver of our nation’s steadily declining oil import dependence since 2005. Meanwhile, the most significant factor in our progress toward energy independence—tremendous growth in U.S. ethanol production—was given only a passing mention near the end of the article.

The sustained trend toward reduced oil import dependence began in 2005, during a time of sliding domestic oil production. U.S. oil production steadily dropped from 2005 to 2008. But as a result of the recent fracking craze, domestic production has rebounded back to 2003 levels. Meanwhile, American ethanol production nearly quadrupled from 2005 to 2011. On a cumulative basis, ethanol has comprised 81 percent of the new transportation fuel volume produced in the United States since 2005. The Congressional Research Service recently wrote that ethanol is the “largest single component of the domestic supply growth” since 2005.

In fact, ethanol now accounts for one out of every four gallons of domestically-produced fuel consumed by gasoline vehicles in 2011. Without ethanol, 2011 oil import dependence would have been 52 percent—rather than the actual level of 45 percent cited in the article. Today, ethanol accounts for 10 percent of the nation’s gasoline supply, displacing the need for the gasoline refined from 485 million barrels of crude oil. And with recent approval to use 15 percent ethanol blends in most vehicles, the industry stands ready to contribute even more volume to the domestic supply. In addition to reducing oil imports, ethanol—currently selling for $1/gallon less than gasoline—is lowering fuel costs and decreasing the transportation sector’s GHG emissions.

National security hawks, as well as economists from Merrill Lynch, the Energy Information Administration, and several universities have recognized the substantial impact of ethanol on our nation’s oil import dependence. Why hasn’t the New York Times noticed?

Bob Dinneen
President and CEO
The Renewable Fuels Association

« More Blog Posts