In the interview, Vilsack spoke about, among others, the role conventional and advanced biofuels will play in the future, the current outlook for the ethanol industry and new opportunities for the industry. Below are excerpts from that interview.
On the future of the biofuels industry:
Vilsack identified investment in infrastructure to expand the capacity and availability of higher blends of ethanol, seeking ways to provide biofuels for the Defense Department as an adjunct to work being done with commercial aviation and expanding exports.
"If we can expand exports, if we can continue to work with new market opportunities and expand the infrastructure for higher blends, the long-term future of the industry, I think, is bright," Visack told FuelFix.
Additionally, he said the high octane in ethanol could play a big role in helping US carmakers achieve new mileage standards.
On new research and technology:
Vilsack said there was a need for an institute on biomanufacturing to encourage research into new technologies and production methods. He also acknowledged the strides ethanol producers have made over the years in improving efficiency and exploring new technologies.
"We ought to be understanding the changes that are being made in this industry; ethanol production is more efficient, it’s less energy intensive, and there are new ways are coming up of producing this product. There ought to be a recognition of that as people are making regulatory decisions about the industry," he said.
On opposition from Big Oil:
Vilsack pointed at the oil industry as the biggest obstacle to the expansion of infrastructure to offer higher blends of ethanol by limiting financing options such as the Rural Energy For America Program (REAP) and also discouraging retailers from offering it by raising liability concerns.
He added that opponents of the RFS have been very well organized and have used any opening to create confusion and uncertainty.
"If they truly wanted to away with the RFS, they would be more supportive of market-based opportunities to sell higher blends, to process higher blends, to encourage commercial aviation industry to accelerate their purchase, and I don’t see any of that. I just see an anti-RFS (campaign) out there, and that then has the (biofuel) industry hunkered down and focused on the RFS. So I see my job as being yes, we defend the RFS, we talk about the RFS, we encourage the EPA to make decisions about the RFS, but somebody has got to be keeping an eye on everything else, and that’s what I think the USDA has been doing the last couple of years," he said.
Read the entire interview here