US ethanol groups seek support against well-funded opponents

16 June 2009 20:25  [Source: ICIS news]

DENVER, Colorado (ICIS news)--Complementary associations were appealing for support from the US ethanol sector on Tuesday, with one of the founders of newer group Growth Energy warning that the industry is being outgunned by better-funded opponents.

"If we do not have the bullets in the holster, we are not going to win the war," said Jeff Broin, chief executive officer of ethanol producer POET.

Broin told the Fuel Ethanol Workshop & Expo (FEW) in Denver, Colorado, that he is spending around 70% of his time travelling around the US to fight public-relations battles for the industry.

He did not identify the industry's opponents. Other speakers had named the food and oil industries as being behind anti-ethanol studies.

Broin appealed to other industry participants to invest in Growth Energy to support the campaign in favour of the biofuel.

Growth Energy was begun in November 2008 to supplement the work of the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA).

It has as one of its co-chairmen Wesley Clark, a high-profile former US Army general who addressed the opening session  of the FEW, as did RFA president Bob Dinneen.

The RFA has a booth in the FEW's associated exhibition, through which it hoped to attract some new members. 

Robert White, the RFA's director of market development, said the RFA already has about 60 ethanol plants as members, out of around 190 plants in existence in the US.

The FEW is a good opportunity for the RFA to recruit associate members from among the service firms represented at the exhibition, he said.

White estimated attendance at the FEW at around 2,000, down from a peak of 4,000 at the 2006 event.

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By: Stephen Burns
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