Rep. Leonard Boswell, D-Iowa, along with representatives from the Magellan Pipeline Company, Iowa Corn Growers and the Iowa Renewable Fuel Association held a press conference Wednesday highlighting the need to improve the infrastructure for moving ethanol from the Midwest to the rest of the country. In July, Boswell, along with Congressman Lee Terry, R-Neb., introduced the Renewable Fuel Pipeline Act, which would qualify a renewable fuel pipeline as an eligible project under the federal loan guarantee program within the U.S. Department of Energy. Specifically, H.R. 6692, amends the loan guarantee program under the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to qualify a renewable fuel pipeline as an eligible project, along with increasing the loan guarantee rate to 90%.
Magellan and Buckeye Partners previously had been evaluating an ethanol pipeline from Iowa to the east coast. Today, more than 70% of the nation’s gasoline supply is transported via pipelines, a method which has been found to be safe, efficient and cost effective. With more and more biofuels coming into the market and the industry reliant on more costly forms of transportation, biofuels are not an affordable choice in some of the largest population centers in the country. Currently, renewable fuels are only transported by rail and trucks across the country.
Source: Feedstuffs