COLUMBUS Political support fuels ethanol proposal
Ethanol is blended with gas and used to improve performance in specially designed vehicles.
By JEFF ORTEGA
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
COLUMBUS -- A push to create incentives to help develop ethanol plants in Ohio is picking up steam.
Gov. Bob Taft is backing the idea, as are major farm organizations and state lawmakers.
"It's starting to move," said Mike Wagner, executive director of the Ohio Corn Growers Association. "We're encouraged by the governor -- the governor is pro-ethanol -- [and] the farm organizations are with us. We feel very good," Wagner said.
"We're hoping to get one built in the next few years [in Ohio]," Terry McClure, president of the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, said recently of the development of an ethanol plant.
Ethanol is blended with gasoline and can be used in concentrations as high as 85 percent ethanol in specially designed flexible-fuel vehicles.
Environmentalists say the renewable fuel is more environmentally friendly while others say ethanol could help the United States use less foreign oil.
Bills: There are several bills in the Legislature relating to ethanol and renewable fuels:
UState Rep. Keith Faber, R-Celina, and state Sen. Larry Mumper, R-Marion, have introduced similar bills that would create an Ethanol Incentive Board and would create tax credits. The bills also would expand the definition of air quality facilities to include ethanol plants and make them eligible for Air Quality Development financing.
State Rep. Timothy J. Grendell of Chesterland, R-68th, is a co-sponsor on Faber's bill. A portion of Trumbull County is in his district.
U Grendell has introduced a bill that would create a 10-member commission to examine petroleum product supply and delivery in Ohio.
UState Rep. Steve Reinhard, R-Bucyrus, has introduced a bill that would ban the use of Methyl tertiary-butyl ether in Ohio. MTBE is a synthetic chemical that was commonly used in the 1980s to reduce vehicle emissions. The chemical is highly soluble in water and can drain from storage facilities into groundwater.
The bills remain pending.
Corn: The corn growers association says Ohio is the sixth-largest, corn-producing state in the country. The association said Ohio used more than 200 million gallons of ethanol this year with no plant in the state. Ohio also has good access to power supply, water and rail and is close to some refineries, the association said.
While Ohio has some advantages to helping develop ethanol plants, the state also has some disadvantages, Wagner, of the corn growers, said.
"Our corn is priced higher than it is in the western corn belt. There's cheaper corn out there," Wagner said. "Many western states also have incentives. That's why the creation of incentives in Ohio is so important.
"We have to have state assistance to compete against assistance in other states," Wagner added. "Our research shows that an ethanol plant will bring $100 million in economic development to the state, [from] a 40-million-gallon plant. We think the state can afford a little bit to invest in the industry."
Cooperative: Faber said he would like to encourage an ethanol plant in Ohio to be based in a farmer-owned cooperative.
"Not only do you provide a stable marketplace, but you also help stimulate rural economies by putting profits back into the farm community," Faber said.
Some sites around Ohio have been mentioned as possible locations for an ethanol plant.
In Defiance County in northwest Ohio, a group of investors have expressed interest in developing a 30-million-gallon per year plant there. Meanwhile, a study determined that Leipsic, in northwest Ohio, would make the best site.
In northeast Ohio, Nordic Energy LLC and Nordic Biofuels LLC have announced plans to build an ethanol production plant and a energy power plant in Ashtabula County.