Legislative agreement includes $6 million for biofuel infrastructure
Thanks to the grassroots advocacy efforts of the Minnesota Corn Growers Association (MCGA), state legislators have agreed to commit $6 million next biennium to a biofuel-infrastructure program.
The legislators have also called for allocating $6 million to the program, to also be administered by the state Department of Agriculture, in fiscal years 2024 and 2025, bringing the total state investment to $12 million over four years.
The program is part of a two-year state agriculture budget deal reached by Rep. Mike Sundin (DFL-Esko) and Sen. Torrey Westrom (R-Elbow Lake), which still needs approval by the full House and Senate.
“Minnesota’s corn growers thank chairs Sundin and Westrom, Gov. Tim Walz and Agriculture Commissioner Thom Petersen for their work to include this valuable funding in their budget agreement,” said Tim Waibel, a farmer in Courtland, Minnesota, and president of MCGA. “We look forward to continue working with state and legislative leaders to ensure the availability of a product that benefits not only farmers and rural communities, but all Minnesotans.”
The infrastructure program could potentially increase the number of stations in Minnesota with E15, a cleaner-burning fuel that reduces greenhouse gas emissions and saves consumers money, by over 125 locations. Based on the most recent sales data from the state Department of Commerce, that could lead to a 52% increase in E15 sales compared to 2020 numbers — equivalent to an increase of 39 million gallons per year.
Waibel said increasing accessibility to E15 could help bolster the prospects of a statewide E15 standard, which Walz has supported.
“We are confident that consumers will continue to see — and seek out — the benefits provided by E15,” he said.
The biofuel-infrastructure program, to which the Minnesota Corn Research and Promotion Council (MCR&PC) committed $1 million to earlier this year, would help stations around the state cover the costs of upgrading equipment compatible with higher blends of ethanol.
MCR&PC and MCGA have a history of providing grants to retailers to replace or upgrade fuel infrastructure for higher blends of ethanol. Since 2008, MCR&PC and MCGA have invested nearly $28 million in ethanol infrastructure, research and education.
That investment has helped Minnesota become a national leader in E15, with more than 380 stations in Minnesota offering the fuel. E15, commonly known as unleaded 88, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, delivers higher octane at a lower cost, and provides significant economic benefits to rural communities and beyond.
Jim O’Connor, a farmer in Blooming Prairie, Minn., and chairman of the MCR&PC, said he is thrilled that legislative leaders have decided to make a substantial investment in biofuel infrastructure next biennium.
“The grant program will help gas stations across Minnesota make critical infrastructure investments, giving consumers access to cleaner-burning, economic fuels that help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality,” he said.
According to Steffen Mueller, a researcher at the University of Illinois Chicago, E15 reduces carbon dioxide emissions by the equivalent of an additional 1.25 grams per metric joule compared to E10. That means that if the additional 39 million gallons of E15 were pumped, consumers would reduce carbon emissions by 48.7 metric tons.
To learn more about the benefits of higher blends of ethanol or to find a station near you, visit BetterFuel.org.
To learn more about the Minnesota Corn Research and Promotion Council and Minnesota Corn Growers Association, visit mncorn.org.
