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RFA CEO says carbon properties are bringing new research into ethanol uses
The CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association says ethanol is drawing new researchers and new investors to the industry. Geoff Cooper tells Brownfield that’s because of so many potential new uses for ethanol. “Sometimes we get our blinders on and think that there’s only one way to use ethanol and that’s as a gasoline additive. That’s not the case. Because of its properties, because of its low-carbon benefits, because of its high octane value, and because of its low cost, ethanol is a very attractive building block for all sorts of new uses.”
Cooper says along with cutting carbon emissions by around 50% over petroleum fuels and a clear path to ethanol becoming a carbon-neutral fuel, there is a great deal of quiet research into using ethanol for heavy trucks, farm machinery, aviation fuel, and chemicals. “The science is clear that anything you make with a barrel of crude oil, you can make from a barrel of renewable ethanol, and while that once was thought to be unimaginable or uneconomical, because of its carbon value, there are a lot of people that are really showing interest.”
Cooper says things that were once considered way outside of the box are getting more attention because of ethanol’s low carbon properties.
Brownfield interviewed Geoff Cooper during the recent National Ethanol Conference in New Orleans.
