Ethanol

Benefits of Ethanol

On the health benefits of mandated ethanol content:

A 1000 or more people are dying in Melbourne and Sydney that should not have to die. They die directly or indirectly as a result of vehicle emissions. The US has legislated ethanol content in order to reduce these morbidity rates.

The CSRIO chief atmospheric scientist Dr Tom Beer told the National Clean Air Symposium in 2004 that “more people die from motor vehicle emissions than from motor vehicle accidents”.

AMA federal president Dr Mukesh Haikerwal in a media statement (27/07/05) said “in our (AMA) opinion, there is incontrovertible evidence that the addition of ethanol to petrol…will reduce the deaths…associated with the emissions… produced by burning those fuels”.

On the need to diversify the sugar industry:

Sugar is still the biggest employer in Queensland – bigger than coal – but the sugar industry is closing down.

We are now closing a sugar mill every one or two years. There are only 22 mills left. On present trends in a decade or so, there will be no mills at all. In contrast Brazil has been building nearly 20 mills a year.

On the economic benefits:

The OECD estimates a 73% increase in World wide ethanol production over the next 9 years. Projections for Australia in the same period are only 6%.

Instead of importing petrol at a cost of around $6, 000 million a year, we will produce our own petrol.

A $2, 000m a year industry will create some 20 000 jobs in rural Australia.

Opposition fallacys:

Our opposition provide a classically fallacious argument, Treasuries ‘level playing field’. If Ethanol is taxed at the point of production (PAYE, Company Tax, GST), and taxed as well at the browser. This would be a very unlevel playing field indeed. Petrol taxed once. Ethanol taxed twice.

Food or Fuel:

Dried distillers grain is a by product of corn ethanol. America is now producing around 60 million/tonne each year of DDG. This is equivalent of a full food regime sufficient to sustain a population of 24 million people. So much for the food versus fuel argument.

Summarising

1. Saves lives by reducing harmful emissions.
2. Lowers petrol prices.
3. Necessary to secure sugar, cattle, grains industry.
4. Creates 30, 000 jobs in rural Australia.
5. Current account deficit reduced by $2000 million.
6. Secures Australia’s fuel supply’s once 95% self sufficient, now only 70%.

World Ethanol Map 2015

QLD Government biofuels mandate submission

Appendix A - NRMA Fuel Security Report