ETHANOL needs to be a renewable fuel choice in Wisconsin.. Key Messages of Ethanol: ETHANOL needs to be a renewable fuel choice in Wisconsin. ETHANOL is good for the environment. ETHANOL means economic development. ETHANOL is good for agriculture. Ethanol improves air quality. Ethanol and car performance.

Current News:
EPA supports ethanol use by rejecting Clean Air Act waiver in California, New York, and Connecticut. Read release>>>
Wisconsin needs to follow Minnesota on ethanol choice. Read release>>>
Consumer Federation of America says oil companies keeping gas prices by not using ethanol. Read report>>>
Air quality and ethanol. Read study>>>

Links to learn more about Ethanol:
Renewable Fuels Association: www.ethanolrfa.org
American Coalition for Ethanol: www.ethanol.org
FAQs on ethanol: Click here>>>

ETHANOL needs to be a choice across Wisconsin.
The only way to guarantee market choice for renewable fuels is through an ethanol requirement. Consumers won't get a choice because some oil companies won't provide ethanol unless required.

Currently 45% of the fuel sold in the state contains ethanol, with most of that being sold in the southeastern corner of the state because of clean air requirements. So if gas can be reformulated in almost half of the fuel sold in Wisconsin, it would make sense to require it in all fuel. Wisconsin is on the road to improving the environment. Let’s keep going with ethanol.

39 of 51 terminals that provide fuel in Wisconsin currently have the in-state capability of adding ethanol. Another 11 are able to get ethanol from a source outside Wisconsin. So it’s clear that ethanol can be provided, it just isn’t.

Ethanol fuel in Wisconsin creates a larger regional market and distribution system for fuel, instead of having a different fuel in Wisconsin and in Minnesota. This debunks the argument that an ethanol requirement would create another different fuel in the state.

ETHANOL is good for the environment.
The use of ethanol-blended fuels reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 12-19% compared with conventional gasoline, according to Argonne National Laboratory. In fact, in 2003, ethanol use in the U.S. reduced C02-equivalent greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 5.7 million tons, equal to removing the annual emissions of more than 853,000 cars from the road.

Other benefits to the environment:

• Ethanol reduces tailpipe carbon monoxide emissions by as much as 30%.
• Ethanol reduces exhaust VOC emissions by 12%.
• Ethanol reduces toxic emissions by 30%.

The use of ethanol significantly reduces tailpipe emissions of carbon monoxide, an ozone precursor, VOCs and fine particulates that pose a health threat to children, seniors and those with respiratory ailments. Importantly, renewable fuels help to reduce greenhouse gases emitted from vehicles, including carbon dioxide, methane and other gases that contribute to global warming. Source: Reformulated Fuels Association

Many areas of the country have used ethanol in order to meet EPA clean air standards with great results. In every area of the country that has used ethanol-blended fuel, air quality has improved.

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ETHANOL is good for economic development.
Ethanol plants in Wisconsin provide new jobs and expanded tax base. Having ethanol as a fuel choice will provide markets for the five ethanol plants that have invested $280 million to produce ethanol and provide jobs.

Ethanol production helps make Wisconsin stronger. It helps Wisconsin to add value to its products. Ethanol production also creates good-paying jobs in areas that need them.

An ethanol plant generates these economic benefits to the community in which it is located:
• Expand the economic base of the local economy by $110.2 million.
• Generate an additional $19.6 million of household income.
• Support the creation of as many as 694 permanent new jobs
throughout the entire economy.
• Generate at least $1.2 million in new tax revenue.
• Generate additional revenue for local grain farmers by increasing demand.
Source: Ethanol and the Local Community . AUS Consultants and SJH & Company, June 2002.

ETHANOL is good for Wisconsin farmers.
An ethanol fuel choice allows Wisconsin agriculture to be part of an environmental solution. The use of grain for ethanol adds up to 10-15 cents for every bushel of corn for Wisconsin farmers. Ethanol is a value-added product from a locally-produced renewable resource. The distiller’s grain that is a co-product of ethanol is also a low-cost feed for livestock.

ETHANOL is an alternative and renewable fuel we grow at home.
Ethanol extends our state’s and nation’s fuel supply. Ethanol reduces the need to import 128,000 barrels of oil per day. Ethanol is made from renewable sources produced in Wisconsin. Every major automaker approves the use of E-10 unleaded - a blend of 10% ethanol and 90% ordinary gasoline. The trucks made at the GM plant in Janesville have all been built to run on ethanol. If we’re making vehicles in Wisconsin to use ethanol, we should be providing the fuel used those vehicles.

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• The number of days in Southeast Wisconsin that have exceed federal ozone standards has decreased by 45% since the use of ethanol in reformulated fuels.
• Minnesota continues to meet all federal ambient air quality standards, having reduced air pollution in several areas of the state.
• In one year since ethanol replaced MTBE California, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) touted "dramatic improvements statewide compared to last year."
• In New York and Connecticut, the number of days exceeding the federal 8-hour ozone standard dropped 91 percent, a year after ethanol replaced MTBE.
  

The American Lung Association of Metropolitan Chicago credits ethanol-blended reformulated gasoline with reducing smog-forming emissions by 25% since 1990. Ethanol reduces particulate emissions, especially fine-particulates that pose a health threat to children, senior citizens, and those with respiratory ailments.

The American Lung Association of Minnesota web site said ethanol blended fuels are good for the environment. The Minnesota chapter fully supports the Minnesota E10 program.
Source: http://www.ethanol-gec.org/spring2000/spr0021.htm

ETHANOL helps ease gas prices.
With gas prices projected to be more than $2.00 per gallon this year, the use of ethanol-blended fuel usually lowers gas by 3-4 cents a gallon. It’s not a great savings, but every little bit helps with oil production controlled by OPEC and large oil companies making large profits.

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ETHANOL blended fuel does not cause fuel injector problems

A recent newspaper article that appeared in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/mar05/312573.asp) suggested that sulfuric acid residues in ethanol-blended gasoline were responsible for a large number of complaints about clogged fuel injectors reported by southeastern Wisconsin motorists beginning in the summer of 2004. The Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation said it is disappointed in the inaccurate reporting and the unfounded attack against the use of ethanol-blended gasoline in the state. Even General Motors, which cited as a source in the story, said the story was inaccurate.

Statement from General Motors and Renewable Fuels Association on Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel story on fuel injector and fuel problems:

"GM is a strong supporter of ethanol and has long history in working with the Renewable Fuels Association. Both GM and the RFA encourage the use of clean burning ethanol in the petroleum marketplace.

"Last week, an article mischaracterized a gasoline and fuel injector issue in Milwaukee.

"At this time, there is no evidence to suggest an inherent problem with injectors in GM vehicles and ethanol fuel. Investigation into several recent incidents involving sulfate salts continues so as to understand the impact on fuel injectors in the Milwaukee area. The root cause has not been identified. We continue to work collaboratively with fuel suppliers and distributors to understand and to resolve the issue as soon as possible."

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