New Report Outlines Clean Fuels Policy for the Midwest

A new report details how a good clean fuels policy for the Midwest should be designed, recommending a “technology-neutral, portfolio approach that encourages a fair and competitive marketplace and benefits producers, consumers, agriculture, utilities, jobs, and public health.”

The Clean Fuels Policy for the Midwest white paper is the result of nearly two years of analysis and stakeholder discussion by the Midwestern Clean Fuels Initiative. Facilitated by the Great Plains Institute, the Initiative brings together fuels producers and marketers, nonprofit and research organizations, scientists and engineers, and agriculture and industry stakeholders. The Initiative’s consensus white paper illustrates broad support for a policy by diverse interests across the region. The paper is intended to inform further discussion of new and existing clean fuels policies and how they could be tailored to benefit the Midwest.

South Dakota farmer Ron Alverson, past president of the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) and the SD Corn Growers, was a chief contributor to an ACE white paper about the low carbon benefits of corn ethanol that was released in 2018 and served as the impetus behind the new report. In this interview, he talks about the future of corn ethanol as a low carbon fuel and how accurate carbon accounting is key to a successful and fair Clean Fuels Policy for the Midwest.
Interview with Ron Alverson, Dakota Ethanol