7. EDSR 05-14-2007 - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINNESOTA SPENDING BILL, WITH BIOFUELS PROVISIONS, BECOMES LAW Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) signed an omnibus spending bill into law last week that should give biofuel producers in the state a reason to smile. Included in the $170 million Agriculture and Veterans Omnibus Bill, signed by Pawlenty on Friday, was a handful of biofuel-related provisions that will provide funding for various projects and continue ethanol producer payments. According to a bill summary provided by the Minnesota Corn Growers Association, the legislation would provide 20cts/gal payments to ethanol producers for the first ten years of a plant's existence and for existing plants currently receiving the 13cts/gal payment, that will be raised to match the new level. Based on the text of the legislation, HF 2227, the spending bill would also: -- create a Next Generation Energy Board, which would research and recommend how the state can invest its resources to most efficiently achieve energy independence. It will also examine the future of fuels, such as hydrogen, methanol, biodiesel and ethanol within the state. The board will be administered through the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and require recommendations to the legislature by February each year, through June 30, 2011; -- provide $1.4 million in Next Generation Energy Grants to five biofuel projects, including for the creation of a biomass fuel supply depot in LeSueur or Scott County, a feasibility study for Bois Forte Band of Chippewa concerning a biofuels demonstration facility that would use forest resources and cellulosic material and E::I.k R..:i.Yret- Ecoraomi.c De<Ye:€.oprr~er~t Akatl~or°::i.t~/ f~cJx- study of plasma gasification of waste into methanol for biodiesel production; and -- set a goal that by 2025, 25~ of the energy consumed in the state is derived from renewable resources. However, not every biofuel provision in the legislation was enacted. Pawlenty exercised a line-item veto on an initiative calling for a $1 million appropriation for equipment used in the production of perennial crops. "while this new loan program for equipment may have merit in the future, we are only in the early stages of planting for our next generation of fuels. It is difficult to predict future equipment and capital needs of producers of such crops at this point," the governor wrote. "Many questions remain that should be answered before the state commits to this type of loan program, such as what type of biomass crops or plants will be used and how equipment needs will differ from what is used on already established crops," he added. He suggested the topic be discussed among members of the Next Generation Energy Board. Minnesota, which has at least 14 ethanol plants online, has been described as the most progressive biofuels state in the country. It was the first U.S. state to require every gallon of its gasoline contain 10~ ethanol and in 2005, Pawlenty signed a bill requiring E20 in all gasoline by 2013, unless ethanol has already replaced 20~ of the state's motor fuel by 2010.