Ethanol and Energy

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — After years of fighting their own policy battles, ethanol and electric vehicle advocates are tentatively banding together against a shared enemy: fossil fuels.

More than two dozen organizations have been meeting for nearly two years in Minnesota to work on a “technology-neutral” policy proposal aimed at decarbonizing transportation, which has surpassed electricity production as the state’s largest source of greenhouse gas emissions.

The group includes ethanol companies, agriculture associations, conservation groups, gas and electric utilities, and clean energy advocates, including some that have been skeptical about ethanol’s environmental qualities.

In January, the coalition released a white paper outlining a concept known as a low-carbon fuel standard or clean fuels policy for the Midwest, which would reward fuels or technologies based on their lifecycle carbon emission reductions.