Ethanol has key US national security role - ex-general Clark

16 June 2009 18:27  [Source: ICIS news]

DENVER, Colorado (ICIS news)--Ethanol has a vital national security role in avoiding costly entanglements like the war in Iraq by reducing the US dependency on oil imports, retired general Wesley Clark said on Tuesday.

Noting the 4,000 US soldiers killed and 80,000 wounded in Iraq since 2003, Clark asked: "Is there any doubt what this is about?"

Clark, a former four-star general who is now co-chairman of ethanol industry association Growth Energy, said the oil dependency distorts US foreign policy.

He called on ethanol industry participants to forcefully push the national security message in public forums.

"America must sit up and take notice of this industry," Clark told the opening session of the Fuel Ethanol Workshop (FEW) in Denver.

"This is not just about business, this is about national security," he said.

Aside from reducing oil dependency, the mitigating effects of ethanol on climate change are another security advantage of the biofuel, Clark maintained.

Global warming would create disruption in some countries, and "dislocation means conflict", he said.

Clark took a swipe at the oil industry for campaigning against ethanol, which he said is taking market share away from gasoline.

"When you're selling 10m gal/year of ethanol, somebody is not selling 10m gal of something else," he said.

The challenge for industry participants is to become experts on the advantages of ethanol, so they can counter negative attention, Clark said.

"You're in a crucial point," he said. "The country is taking a deep breath and asking itself, 'where are we going?'"

It is up to individuals in the ethanol sector to help the US make the right decision, Clark said.

The FEW, which has attracted around 2,000 participants, ends on Thursday.

Bookmark Simon Robinson’s Big Biofuels Blog for some independent thinking on biofuels
To discuss issues facing the chemical industry go to ICIS connect
For more on ethanol visit ICIS chemical intelligence

By: Stephen Burns
+1 713 525 2653

For the latest chemical news, data and analysis that directly impacts your business sign up for a free trial to ICIS news - the breaking online news service for the global chemical industry.

Get the facts and analysis behind the headlines from our market leading weekly magazine: sign up to a free trial to ICIS Chemical Business.

Printer Friendly