Another kind of independence

As we celebrate Independence Day this year, we should all stop for a moment during our cookouts and pool parties and think about some of our freedoms in this great country. We have freedom of speech, press, religion, assembly and numerous other rights guaranteed by our Constitution. But there's one freedom we don't yet have - freedom from foreign oil.

Think about how important crude oil is to our economy and our way of life. But we are reminded of its potential consequences with the tragic events in the Gulf of Mexico.

While we might never be completely free from the need for oil, we do have a chance to gain further independence from it by encouraging and using renewable fuels.

When you filled up your vehicle for a Memorial Day or Fourth of July road trip, chances are you were putting in gasoline made with 10 percent ethanol - a fuel made from corn grown in Illinois and other states. There are other plant-based fuels out there, such as soy biodiesel, but ethanol is the one most people are familiar with.

Ethanol is also key to expanding independence from oil.

If the Environmental Protection Agency approves higher ethanol blend levels for use in current vehicles, we will immediately be using less oil to make standard gasoline. Some vehicles, called "flex fuel vehicles," are designed and approved to run on 85 percent ethanol (E85).

But the EPA needs to consider immediate approval of a 12 percent blend for current vehicles, with a bump to 15 percent in the very near future. Research has shown that cars currently running on 10 percent ethanol will also run fine on 12 percent ethanol. The Department of Energy is wrapping up testing on E15 - a blend of 85 percent gasoline and 15 percent ethanol - but the preponderance of the research so far shows E15 is also perfectly acceptable in a wide range of vehicles. When that testing is complete, E15 needs to be approved.

That means every time you filled your tank, you'd be using 5 percent less standard gasoline, made from foreign oil.

Not only would E15 decrease your dependence on oil, it would save you money and, in some cases, actually improve your vehicle's performance. Ethanol is cheaper than gasoline, and studies have shown that on long-distance trips, gas mileage improves with E15.

In the future, we will see at filling stations "blender pumps" - gas pumps that allow consumers to choose the ethanol blend for their vehicles, based on desired performance and price. In fact, a blender pump opened in downstate Sullivan in May, the first of 20 that are planned.

And research on other plant-based fuels continues. Extending the Ethanol Blenders' Excise Tax Credit, which expires at the end of this year, will help the industry find more sources for ethanol in addition to corn and will encourage fuel retailers and suppliers to use more domestically produced renewable fuels.

So when you're biting into that nice, juicy ear of corn on the cob during your holiday cookout, stop for a second and think about how plant-based biofuels can give you even more independence.

Philip Nelson is president of the Illinois Farm Bureau.