01/17/07 Growing Industry, Growing Concern

Growing Industry, Growing Concerns. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. Searching for alternate fuels sources has become a high priority, especially in the United States. President Bush has been backing the search and has urged the passing of legislation towards that end. And while the biofuels industry is in the midst of a boom, livestock producers have voiced their concerns with the potential impacts of increasing ethanol demand but demand for ethanol is reportedly having an impact on some of the world`s poorest people as well. In fact - it appears increased corn prices mean the government`s budget won`t buy as much food for aid as it used to. As a result - the organizations that distribute food donated by the U.S. expect to deliver less food to places like Africa and Latin America. For instance - Catholic Relief Services only expects to deliver 161-thousand tons this year - after distributing 200-thousand tons in 2006. On the other side of the coin, Eric Niemann, Chairman of the United Soybean Board, says the market for biodiesel will continue to grow as consumers are confident they're getting what they pay for. NIEMANN: Whether a person purchases biodiesel in California or New York he need to be assured that that is the quality product that he has purchased and deserves as that purchase so we've been working with check-off with our BQ-9000 program on the storage, handling, transportation for our suppliers and distributors; kind of a self help program that they can become involved in, learn about the best way to handle it and transport it. Participation from biodiesel manufacturers and fuel retailers in a biodiesel certification program - called BQ-9000 - carried out by the checkoff-funded National Biodiesel Board - builds consumer confidence by letting everyone know that quality is a top priority of the biodiesel industry. Niemann says the soybean checkoff urges farmers to ask fuel suppliers to carry biodiesel from BQ-9000 certified marketers. NIEMANN: We were in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware and saw it in the marine use; the home heating oil sees benefits from biodiesel. Just a variety of areas we can work in. Bus fleets. Some of the largest cities using a B-20 blend to clean up their emissions to get underneath that Clean Air Act. So it has a lot of potential, it has a lot of uses. 86 biodiesel plants are currently in production in the U.S. - with another 60 planned or in construction. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.