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Issues: Biofuels and Renewable Energy“[Senator Nelson] has been a leader on renewable fuels for many years - long before he came to the Senate.”
During his tenure as Nebraska's governor, from 1990 to 1997, Nebraska tripled its ethanol production to 300 million gallons, and now ranks second in the nation with more than 1 billion gallons of ethanol production capacity. As Governor, Ben Nelson also formed the Governors' Ethanol Coalition in 1991 to promote increased ethanol use. As Senator he helped establish the first energy title in a farm bill with the 2002 Farm Bill. In 2005, he helped pass into law a renewable fuels standard (RFS) with goals for renewable energy use in federal facilities and for producing and using 7.5 billion gallons per year by 2012, which he helped expand in 2007 via passage of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 that expanded the RFS to 36 billion gallons by 2022, 21 billion of which is to come from advanced biofuels such as cellulosic ethanol. The RFS has been incredibly successful as national ethanol production approached 5 billion gallons in 2006 and production capacity exceeding 7 billion goal in 2007. Senator Nelson recognized the important role for the 2007 farm bill – which he worked to have renamed the “Food and Energy Security Act of 2007” – in helping to diversify the feedstock used for biofuels production by spurring the next generation of biofuels such as cellulosic ethanol made from the biomass of agricultural wastes and dedicated energy crops. The development of these new biofuel feedstocks will expand our biofuels industry while advancing our conservation goals and avoiding an adverse impact on our food and water supplies and Senator Nelson worked to have provisions included in the bill that would help advance the production of both cellulosic ethanol and the biomass that will serve as the feedstock. Promoting the use of residues such as stover, a waste product from row crop farming, and dedicated energy crops, such as switchgrass, that can be grown on land not economically suitable for food crops and dependent on irrigation, the farm bill provides for the securing of both America’s food and fuel needs for decades to come. Nelson has also introduced the first ever legislation to comprehensively promote the development and production of biogas – a natural gas substitute created as a byproduct of animal waste. Elements of his bill, S 1154, the Biogas Production Incentive Act of 2007, were included in the Senate-passed farm bill. Senator Nelson is also a national co-chair of Ethanol Across America, a non-partisan, non-profit organization that is committed to advancing the production and use of renewable fuel ethanol by implementing a comprehensive education and outreach program. Updated: 1.23.08 Related Links
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Nebraska’s Senator Ben Nelson has a proud record of supporting and encouraging the biofuels and renewable energy industries as Nebraska’s Governor and Senator. Recognizing that America will not find the solution to our energy problems at the bottom of another empty oil well, and knowing that renewable fuels can help increase farm income and strengthen rural economies with new jobs, while simultaneously helping protect the environment, Senator Nelson has worked tirelessly to bring Nebraska to the forefront of renewable fuel production.
