02/23/06 Rural America`s new crop, energy

DORR "Rural America has a major new cash crop and that's called energy." That's Undersecretary of Agriculture Tom Dorr who says rural America has the lifestyle, broadband communication and the potential to create new types of energy. DORR "A new energy economy in my view is emerging. Its going to happen and the key issues then are going to be ownership and wealth creation and our goal; our goal must be to bring the benefits of this extraordinary new opportunity back to rural America." Dorr says wind, solar, ethanol and biodiesel all have rural roots and all are agriculture based. Today, the Idaho Senate will vote on a bill that will require ethanol in gasoline sold in the state. The measure would require a ten percent ethanol blend once the state produces 30 million gallons annually. Larry Shafer of the Renewable Fuels Association says many states are getting into ethanol production. SHAFER "We've got 95 plants in 20 states. We've got 33 plants under construction and we've got eight expansions. That will bring another two billion gallons of ethanol on line. Today, ethanol makes up three percent of American fuel with about 4.3 billion gallons annually. Shafer says in 18 months that ethanol could grow to six billion gallons or four percent of our total fuel. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott