Released December 10, 2008
MOSCOW, Idaho – University of Idaho biodiesel expert Jon Van Gerpen hopes a new analysis will help policy makers and the public better understand the biofuel. Van Gerpen, Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department head, led a team of experts including professors from Purdue University and Iowa State University that prepared a comprehensive commentary on biodiesel’s current status. He also leads a national biodiesel education program based in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.
“Biodiesel is developing into a widely accepted alternative fuel,” the team concluded. The industry is struggling globally because of high raw material prices, but greenhouse gas emission cuts continue to stimulate interest. Invited to write the commentary by the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology, Van Gerpen said the team focused on presenting the facts needed to assess biodiesel’s role in the nation’s energy mix. Their work, “Convergence of Agriculture and Energy: III. Considerations in Biodiesel Production,” is the council’s third in a series on the subject.
He briefed an estimated 65 congressional aides in Washington, D.C., to introduce the document during a presentation attended by council members. “CAST takes great pride that people in Washington tell them, ‘We read your stuff,’ ” Van Gerpen said.
“We’ve tried to emphasize some of the issues that will be of interest to Congress, issues related to incentive programs, trade issues with Europe and economics,” he said.
Critics have pounced on biofuels in general, arguing they directly caused the dramatic jump in corn and other commodity prices. Not so, said Van Gerpen, who added that a multitude of factors, not all of them biofuel related, influenced commodity prices.
Ethanol, the alcohol-based fuel useful in gasoline engines, is different from biodiesel, the oil- or fat-based fuel useful in diesel engines.
“We still run into people who don’t understand the difference between biodiesel and ethanol. That’s part of what we want to do: elevate the discussion about biofuels by giving people the information they need,” Van Gerpen said. For example, biodiesel made from soybean oil contains more than triple the energy that is required to produce the biodiesel.
Van Gerpen said three important takeaway points from the document include:
- There is a need to develop a sustainable biofuel industry in the United States. Legislation creating the renewable fuel standard will take care of a lot of the problems in the industry.
- The United States must find a way to create demand for biodiesel at home. Right now a lot of U.S. production is being exported to Europe because there is a greater demand for biodiesel there.
- Americans should recognize that biodiesel is not the sole cause of high food and commodity prices. It may contribute in some way but there are other factors that are probably much more important such as high oil prices and a weaker dollar in the world market.
“Actually I think right now we are in an upsurge in interest again because commodity prices have come back down and the biodiesel producers can afford to buy feedstocks again. There have been technology developments that improve the profitability of the plants,” Van Gerpen added.
“The knowledge level of the industry is up, and we’d like to think we had something to do with that. I think the industry is a lot more sophisticated than it was five years ago,” he said.
“I don’t see it as a controversial document,” Van Gerpen said of his team’s commentary. The council’s goal was to present the facts about biodiesel.
“I was flattered to be asked to be involved with the project. People pay a lot of attention to the documents the council produces,” Van Gerpen added.
--30--
Contacts: Jon Van Gerpen, (208) 885-8182, jonvg@uidaho.edu
Bill Loftus, (208) 885-7694, bloftus@uidaho.edu