A report questioning the energy efficiency of ethanol and biodiesel has rankled state agriculture officials.
Tad Patzek and David Pimentel, professors at the University of California-Berkley and Cornell University, respectively, garnered nationwide attention for positing in their report that ethanol has a 29 percent net energy balance loss.
In other words, the professors claim ethanol production consumes more energy than it makes.
Their findings were controversial in Washington, D.C., during negotiations on the energy bill that passed late last month.
They also received special attention from Minnesota Agriculture Commissioner Gene Hugoson.
In his August commissioner's column, Hugoson assailed the report as having "gaping holes."
"Experts from federal and state government, as well as the private sector, have reviewed the study and found evidence of sloppy math and assumptions that suggested a lack of understanding of modern agriculture," Hugoson wrote.
Patzek is a chemical engineer, and Pimentel studies entomology, the study of insects. Hugoson singled out Patzek in particular for his ties to the oil industry.
The analysis has been challenged by national groups such as the National Corn Growers Association. They point to a 2003 study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that states ethanol production yields 67 percent more energy than the amount spent to make it.
Another report, issued last week by the Minneapolis-based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, indicates why Minnesota officials are concerned about such analysis.
The state's ethanol industry has generated $1.3 billion in economic activity and 5,300 jobs, the report said. The report's authors, Jim Kleinschmit and Mark Muller, think expanding markets for bio-based products beyond ethanol to include lubricants, chemicals and plastics will reap economic dividends for rural communities.
"Whether it is bio-based fuel and energy production, building materials and health products made from fiber crops, or food production marketed on environmental and social attributes, new and high value markets for products derived from agricultural crops are emerging that can help lift rural economies, protect and enhance ecosystems, and provide income and resiliency for rural Midwestern communities," according to the report.
State and national policymakers played an important role in developing ethanol and wind energy, the report states, by creating incentives, production tax credits, and grant and loan programs.
State legislators and Gov. Tim Pawlenty have placed ethanol toward the top of their renewable energy agenda. A bill passed last session set a new mandate of 20 percent ethanol in gasoline sold in Minnesota by 2010. The combination of an oxygenated fuel mandate and a 20 percent-per- gallon producer incentive have helped spur ethanol production in Minnesota, which accounts for 13 percent of the nation's supply, according to the report.
Biodiesel has also received attention from state lawmakers. In 2002, the Legislature approved a measure requiring diesel fuel sold in Minnesota to contain 2 percent biodiesel.
The federal energy bill, passed just before Congress' August recess, requires 7.5 billion gallons of ethanol a year in gasoline by 2012. The new standard doubles the nation's current use of ethanol.The Legal Ledger (St. Paul, MN)
