More than 15 countries in the Western Hemisphere have sent officials to the Ethanol Summit of the Americas to talk over current and future ethanol opportunities in the region. The event runs through Friday (10/20/2017) and is sponsored by the U.S. Grains Council, the Renewable Fuels Association, and the Iowa Corn Promotion Board.
Tom Sleight, U.S. Grains Council president, and CEO says increasing cooperation between ethanol industries supports economic growth for all countries involved. “Collaborative efforts like this pave the way for expanded ethanol use across the region,” says Sleight.
RFA president and CEO Bob Dinneen says the dialogue is desperately needed across the industry due to a growing protectionism among many countries in the world. “Protectionism will only thwart our efforts to expand this important industry and won’t help to address pressing regional energy and environmental needs,” Dinneen says. In part, because of efforts like the Energy Summit of the Americas, the U.S. set a record for ethanol exports in the 2016-2017 marketing year at 1.37 billion gallons. That’s a corn equivalent of 488 million bushels in corn.
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting News Service.