Nebraska’s ethanol industry supports more than 6,200 jobs and adds more than $4.5 billion annually to our economy. In recent years, Nebraska ethanol has benefited from markets for carbon credits.
Now, newly proposed carbon intensity requirements in California, as well as increased access to electric and more fuel-efficient vehicles, are reducing the market for Nebraska ethanol. Fortunately, the demand for sustainable aviation fuel is rapidly growing. But, ethanol can only qualify as sustainable aviation fuel if producers find a way to make production “cleaner.”
That’s where carbon sequestration comes in.
By taking CO2 from ethanol plants, compressing it, and transporting it through a pipeline to a storage location, carbon sequestration can make sure Nebraska ethanol continues to have a role in the U.S. economy. Not only is this good for the ethanol industry, but it’s also good for the farmers who sell more than 750 million bushels of corn to Nebraska biofuel facilities and for the cattle feeders who use the distillers grains that come from ethanol production to raise the best beef in the world.
These companies also bring construction and other full-time jobs, and millions of dollars in new property tax revenue each year that go to our local governments.
Read more from Nebraska Senator Mike Jacobsen in the North Platte Bulletin here.
