Obama challenges biofuels industry to think outside the kernel

Biofuels Digest
Jim Lane July 12, 2011

In Washington, the Renewable Fuels Association has sent a letter to President Obama detailing the dynamic state of America’s ethanol industry. The letter was prompted by remarks President Obama made during his Twitter town hall event earlier this week, in which the President seemed to question the commitment of ethanol producers and advocates to innovation.

“While much of our industry’s research and development focus is on the next generation of feedstocks and biofuels, the existing grain-based industry has quietly made tremendous strides in its economic and environmental efficiency in recent years,” wrote RFA President and CEO Bob Dinneen. “Given its rapid rate of innovation and evolution, it was concerning to hear you suggest during your Twitter town hall that American ethanol was behind the innovation curve. More troubling was your assessment that Brazilian ethanol is a superior, more efficient product than the one produced here at home.”

Read more