National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition - FYI Newsletter, Volume 7, Issue 5, March 6, 2002
National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition - FYI Newsletter, Volume 7, Issue 5, March 6, 2002
On Wednesday, February 13, 2002 the Senate Finance Committee met to mark up the “Energy Tax Incentives Act of 2002”. This report will be used as the tax (i.e. financial) mechanism to promote energy conservation and production in a new National Energy Plan.
Since the beginning of the 107th Congress in January 2001, more than ten versions of a National Energy Plan have been introduced. Most recently, on February 15, 2002, Senator Daschle introduced the latest version as S517. Essentially, S517 is a placeholder for a new bill that will be introduced shortly after the Senate reconvenes on February 25, 2002.
The Finance Committee markup of the tax provisions included several significant issues of importance to ethanol and all alternative fuel advocates. As has been pointed out in the past, in the previous ten versions of an Energy Bill no reference has been made to E85 as a form of alternative transportation fuel. This oversight has been corrected in the latest version of the bill.
Specifically, as recommended by the Finance Committee, the following provisions would be used to advance the use of alternative fuels and alternative fuel vehicles:
1. Provide tax credits to offset the incremental cost of alternative fuel and hybrid vehicles. Credits would be variable based on the incremental cost of the vehicle, the weight of the vehicle, and emission level.
2. Provide tax credits to reduce the cost of alternative fuels. Credits would start at $0.30 per Gasoline Gallon Equivalent (GGE) in 2003, rise to $0.40 per GGE in 2004, and $0.50 per GGE thereafter.
3. Provide tax credits to reduce the cost of the infrastructure to fuel alternative fuel vehicles. Retail facilities would be provided up to $30,000 in credits with residential refueling able to claim $1,000 in credits.
The impact of the preceding to E85 advocates would be as follows:
1. From implementation of the Act through 2003, E85 would be granted an additional $0.219 per gallon federal income tax credit.
2. During 2004, E85 would be granted an additional $0.292 per gallon federal income tax credit.
3. During 2005 through the expiration of the credits, E85 would be granted an additional $0.365 per gallon federal income tax credit.
Additionally, each retail facility that installs or modifies an existing dispensing system to sell E85 would be eligible for a federal income tax credit of up to $30,000.
Through the efforts of a number of parties, the Senate of the United States has recognized that E85 can be used to expand domestic energy independence, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and assist with job creation and retention. The Senate has wisely included E85 in the incentive package that is being considered for other types of alternative fuels. Unfortunately, the U.S. House of Representatives has not included E85 in its energy package, HR4.
Future efforts of E85 advocates will likely be directed to ensuring the final version of a Senate Energy Bill include the alternative fuel incentives recommended by the Senate Finance Committee. Should the Senate adopt an energy bill during this session of Congress, focus will shift to a Conference Committee of House and Senate members that will resolve the differences between the two versions of the energy legislation.
The passing of this Energy Bill will prove to be a huge step in the process of making E85 a widely known and used domestic fuel. We need your help! Contact your state senator by phone, mail or email and tell them just how important this bill is to you. You can find information about how to contact your state senator at www.congress.org.
As this issue of the FYI is being provided to E85 advocates and interested parties, the Senate has begun debate on the floor regarding a new national energy bill, referred to as S517. If you have questions regarding the alternative fuel vehicle incentives included in the bill, please contact the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition at 877-485-8595.
The National Ethanol
Vehicle Coalition along with Ford Motor Company and General Motors attended the
2002 Commodity Classic from February 21-23 at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville,
Tennessee.
A total of 3,900 attended the event including 1,310 growers.
The NEVC shared a large booth with Ford Motor Company and General Motors where they worked together in educating the attendees on the use of E85 as an alternative fuel. The booth enclosed two vehicles, a 2002 E85 compatible GM Tahoe and a 2002 E85 compatible Ford Explorer. Attendees gathered around the booth to ask questions about the domestic fuel. More than 500 attendees filled out postcards to send to their United States Senator in support of E85 incentives that are included in the Senate Energy Bill.
Ford and GM provided hats, t-shirts and jackets that were in turn provided to lucky winners. Winners included: Tom McSwain from South Carolina, Ted Wiegel from Wisconsin, James Souza from California, Keith Yohuha from Illinois, Gary Edwards from Iowa and Mona Rottinghaus from Iowa. Congratulations to all!
NEVC would like to thank Ford, GM and all who visited their booth. We believe the Commodity Classic was a huge success!
According to the latest figures from Argonne National Laboratory, the use of ethanol-blended fuels reduced CO2-equivalent greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 3.6 million tons in the United States during 2001. This reduction is equivalent to removing more than 520,000 cars from the roads. U.S. ethanol production was 1.77 billion gallons in 2001. Ethanol fuel use has increased from 200 million gallons in 1980 to 1.5 billion gallons today.
You can find the entire report on the Argonne National Laboratory website at http://www.transportation.anl.gov/ttrdc/index.html.
The National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition and the U.S. Department of Energy are conducting two FREE federal workshops on alternative fuels in the Salt Lake City, Utah area on April 9, 2002. The first workshop will be at the State Library at 250 North 1950 West from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Breakfast will be served. The second workshop will be held at the National Guard Armory, Draper Complex, at 12953 South Minuteman Drive from 12:30 until 3:30 p.m. Lunch will be served. Both workshops will include discussions on all forms of alternative fuels, but will mainly focus on E85.
These workshops are geared toward federal department managers, fleet managers and drivers. The discussions will concentrate on the reasons why Salt Lake City can and should use alternative fuels, (i.e. reducing winter pollution), the locations of new ethanol fueling sites, and the federal requirements concerning the use of alternative fuels. Salt Lake City’s General Services Administration fleet manager Paul Deppen will be available to answer questions.
To register, please email info@e85.com.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded its 2002 “Clean Air Excellence Award” to the Minnesota E85 Project, a collaborative effort to promote E85, a cleaner-burning blend of renewable ethanol and gasoline that can be used by “flex-fuel” vehicles. They were awarded the honor on March 5, 2002 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C.
The EPA Clean Air Excellence Award recognizes and honors “outstanding and innovative efforts to achieve cleaner air…” The Minnesota E85 Project was selected from a field of more than 100 applicants. According to Tim Gerlach, director of outdoor air programs for the American Lung Association of Minnesota and director of the E85 Project, Minnesota leads the nation in availability and sales of the alternative fuel. “More than 60 stations in Minnesota now sell E85, which largely consists of renewable ethanol grown and produced in the Midwest mixed with a small amount of petroleum,” he said. “Many people are driving a ‘flexible fuel’ vehicle right now, and don’t realize there is a better alternative to gasoline available nearby.”
According to recent reports from Ford Motor Company, the redesign and development of a more robust fuel pump for the United States Postal Service E85 Delivery Vehicles has been completed. These new fuel pumps will be installed in the 22,500 E85 delivery vehicles that have been acquired by the Postal Service. To date, these vehicles have been unable to operate on E85 as a result of fuel pump difficulties.
The NEVC has been working with the Postal Service for a number of years and has assisted in establishing E85 fueling sites in many locations across the nation that will be able to serve these new delivery vehicles. Now that the fuel pump problems have been resolved, the NEVC, USPS, and many of our local E85 vendors look forward to serving our local mail trucks with E85.
· E85 contains 80 percent less gum-forming compounds found in gasoline, which improves the life of your engine.
· Use of one million gallons of E85 saved more than 2,200 pounds of benzene from entering our environment.
March 10-12, 2002
Nebraska Energy and C-store Expo at the Holiday Inn Central Convention Centre in Omaha, Nebraska. For more information, contact Tim Keigher at npcatim@cornhusker.net.
April 9, 2002
FREE Alternative Fuels Workshops at 9 a.m. at Salt Lake City State Library and 12 p.m. at National Guard Armory. For more information or to obtain a registration form, contact Michelle Saab at info@e85.com.
April 11, 2002
Sixty-seven organizations at forty-nine separate sites nationwide are holding National AFV Odyssey Day activities to spread the exciting news that alternative fuel vehicles offer a powerful choice for transportation for all American motorists. For more information go to www.NationalAFVDayOdyssey.org.
May 12-15, 2002
8th National Clean Cities Conference and Expo at the Myriad Convention Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. For more information, visit http://www.ccities.doe.gov/okconference.shtml
June 9-11
12th Annual EPAC sponsored Ethanol Conference in Whitefish, MT. A Golf Tournament will take place June 9 and the conference will be held June 10-11.
Visit www.ethanolmt.org for more information.
June 25-28, 2002
18th Annual International Fuel Ethanol Workshop and Trade Show at the Crowne Plaza Springfield in Springfield, Illinois. For more information and to register, go to http://www.bbiethanol.com/few.
July 23-25
FedFleet 2002 at the Kansas City Convention Center in Kansas City, Missouri. For more information, visit http://www.fedfleet.org.
Please feel free to e-mail your story suggestions to us at info@e85fuel.com or call us anytime.
Phillip J. Lampert, Executive Director - info@e85.com
Michelle Saab, Director of Communications - info@e85.com
Randa Barker, Director of Administration- info@e85.com