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Electric vehicles have the attention of the ethanol industry

The growing interest in electric vehicles has the attention of the ethanol industry.

Renewable Fuels Association president and CEO Bob Dinneen says while electric cars are probably ten years away from becoming a “meaningful reality”, it’s a trend the ethanol industry needs to discuss.

“Electric vehicles are going to come. We need to be part of that future,” Dinneen says. “There are many that believe that the electric vehicle could ultimately be a benefit to ethanol because the source of electricity might, at some point, be ethanol fueling the fuel cells. There are others that see it as a threat and see electric vehicles as undermining the market opportunities for liquid transportation fuels.

“I think we need to discuss it and have a better appreciation for what the marketplace impacts are going to be.”

AUDIO: Bob Dinneen

 

Monte Shaw of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association agrees electric vehicles are coming. But Shaw says they should face the same regulatory scrutiny that ethanol has faced.

“They don’t look at where the electricity comes from when they get their carbon score,” Shaw says. “They don’t look at the cobalt mining in the Congo using child labor and environmentally destructive practices when they get their carbon score—you need that for the batteries. And they don’t look at the fact that when the battery is old and worn out, how do you recycle it or reuse it or dispose of it.

“If we’re going to have our whole world looked at, they need their whole world looked at. That’s just fair. It’s the same thing we ask for oil—a level playing field. Let’s have the same regulatory playing field.”

Shaw says, right now, electric cars are getting “a free pass”.

AUDIO: Monte Shaw