[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 125 (Friday, September 29, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10688-S10689]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. HARKIN (for himself and Mr. Lugar):
  S. 4003. A bill to require the Secretary of Energy to award funds to 
study the feasibility of constructing 1 or more dedicated ethanol 
pipelines to increase the energy, economic, and environmental security 
of the United States, and for other purposes; to the Committee on 
Energy and Natural Resources.
  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, today I am introducing the Ethanol 
Infrastructure Expansion Act of 2006. This bill directs the Department 
of Energy, DOE, to study and evaluate the feasibility of transporting 
ethanol by pipeline. I am pleased that my colleague, Senator Lugar of 
Indiana, is joining me as a cosponsor of this bill.
  There is broad recognition that we need to reduce our almost-complete 
dependence on oil for energy in our transportation sector. We also 
understand that there is not a single, simple solution to this 
dependence. I believe that we need to use energy more efficiently and 
promote alternatives to oil-based fuels in transportation.
  The most promising liquid fuel alternative to conventional gasoline 
today is ethanol. Use of ethanol as an additive in gasoline and in the 
form of E85 is expanding rapidly, and for good reasons. First of all, 
as a domestically-

[[Page S10689]]

produced fuel, ethanol contributes to our national energy security. As 
a gasoline additive, ethanol provides air quality benefits by reducing 
auto tailpipe emissions of air pollutants. Because ethanol is 
biodegradable, its use poses no threat to surface water or groundwater. 
Finally, the production of ethanol provides national and regional 
economic and job-growth benefits by using local resources and labor to 
contribute to critical national transportation energy needs,
  My Congressional colleagues and I have recognized the benefits and 
potential of ethanol and have promoted its expanded production and use 
in numerous bills, including most recently in the 2005 energy bill. A 
key provision in that legislation is the renewable fuels standard under 
which motor vehicle fuel sold in the United States is required to 
contain increasing levels of renewable fuels. Several other provisions 
promote the production and use of ethanol from cellulose, which is an 
especially attractive approach because it enables the use of a broad 
variety of plentiful and low-cost feedstocks including corn stover, 
wheat straw, forest industry wastes and woody municipal wastes.
  The benefits of ethanol are reflected in the rapid expansion of its 
production and use, which has increased by more than 20 percent 
annually for the past several years. Moreover, ethanol's longer-term 
potential to become a very significant energy source for transportation 
also is gaining attention. A number of studies have concluded that 
ethanol can contribute 20 to 30 percent or more of our transportation 
fuel in the future. Several of my Senate colleagues joined me to 
introduce S. 2817, the Biofuels Security Act of 2006 which calls for 
domestic production and use of renewable fuels to reach 60 billion 
gallons a year by 2030. I am especially proud of the leadership role 
that my State of Iowa and the neighboring states of the Midwest are 
going to play in this expansion.
  Given this outlook, it is time for us to consider the full 
implications of such a transition. One issue that deserves prompt 
attention is that of ethanol transport. The volumes of ethanol to be 
shipped in the future strongly suggest that pipeline transport should 
be evaluated because of the potential economic and environmental 
advantages that alternative might offer as compared to shipment by 
highway, rail tanker or barge. As production volumes increase, 
especially in the Midwest, it is likely to be more economical to pump 
ethanol through pipelines than to ship it in containers across the 
country. Pipeline shipping also would reduce the vehicle emissions 
associated with rail or tanker shipment, as well as being more energy 
efficient.
  For all of these reasons, we should begin to consider development of 
an ethanol pipeline network. Given the pace of ethanol's growth, it is 
likely that our Nation could begin to benefit from pipeline transport 
of ethanol as early as the 2015 to 2020 timeframe. The current state of 
knowledge regarding transport of ethanol by pipeline is limited. 
However, it is being done in Brazil, a world leader in the production 
and use of ethanol. Still, it is also known that the water solubility 
of ethanol introduces technical and operational issues bearing on 
shipment of ethanol in multi-product pipelines. Thus, the planning, 
siting, design, financing, permitting and construction of the first 
ethanol pipelines may well take as long as a decade, perhaps longer. 
For that reason, we need to begin now to develop a better understanding 
of this ethanol transport option.
  This bill initiates that process by directing the Department of 
Energy to conduct ethanol pipeline feasibility studies. It calls for 
analyses of the technological, economic, regulatory, financial and 
siting issues related to transporting ethanol via pipelines. A 
systematic analysis of these ethanol pipeline issues will provide the 
substantive information necessary for assessing the costs and benefits 
of this transport alternative. DOE would either fund private sector 
studies or conduct the studies on its own. The results of these studies 
will provide a clearer picture of the benefits and challenges of 
pipeline transport of ethanol. They will provide critical information, 
both for the ethanol industry as it contemplates ethanol transport 
alternatives, and for policy-makers seeking to understand what federal 
policies or programs might be appropriate to promote the most cost-
effective and environmentally sound ethanol transportation in the 
future.
  We have broad agreement on the need to do all that we can to reduce 
our dependence on oil. We are promoting expanding production and use of 
renewable fuels in many ways, but we need to consider the full range of 
infrastructure issues that broader ethanol use entails. Because of the 
rapid growth of ethanol production and use, these studies of pipeline 
transport of ethanol should be undertaken in the very near future. I 
urge my Senate colleagues to join me in passing this important and 
timely legislation.
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