The biofuels industry is casting doubt on the idea liquid fuel will be phased out anytime soon, but it’s also lobbying for ethanol and biodiesel to be included in carbon reduction plans.
President Biden was joined by Ford and GM executives yesterday as he announced a set of fuel efficiency standards, with the goal of having up to half of the vehicles sold in the U.S. be electric by 2030. Iowa Renewable Fuels Association executive director Monte Shaw refers to those kind of goals as aspirational.
“They aren’t all going to be purely EVs — electric vehicles,” Shaw said last weekend on “Iowa Press” on Iowa PBS. “Some of them will be what are called hybrid, where they still do have a liquid-powered engine and no one you talk to thinks it can happen that fast.”
Shaw suggested a vehicle in Iowa that’s burning gas with 85% ethanol today likely has a lower carbon footprint than an electric vehicle, because 25% of the electricity in Iowa is generated from coal.