REDWOOD FALLS, Minn. - Gov. Tim Pawlenty went to the source Thursday as he stood before hundreds of farmers to announce he wants more plant-based fuel in the state's diesel supply.
Speaking here at Farmfest, Pawlenty said he wants lawmakers in 2008 to approve his plan to increase the use of biodiesel - a fuel usually made with soybean oil - tenfold throughout several years.
Biodiesel now is sold in blend of
2 percent soybean and 98 percent diesel. The Republican governor's proposal would move to a 5 percent biodiesel fuel blend in 2008, 10 percent by 2011, 15 percent by 2013 and 20 percent by 2015.
The proposal is similar to the state's fuel mandate of 80 percent gasoline-20 percent ethanol. Ethanol is mostly made from corn, and corn farmers have seen increased demand for their crop because of such requirements.
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"We also want to make a better opportunity for our soybean growers," Pawlenty said at the agriculture trade show in soybean-rich southwestern Minnesota.
Pawlenty said he suspected the DFL-controlled Legislature would be receptive to the proposal, but the announcement surprised the top House Democratic-Farmer-Laborite on agriculture issues.
Rep. Al Juhnke of Willmar said he supports the concept but has some concerns, including whether diesel engines will be able to accommodate the increased biodiesel blend in cold Minnesota winters.
Even in the South, states are talking about only a 5 percent biodiesel mandate, he said.
"Obviously, if we can do a B20 (mandate), Minnesota will certainly be the first to get there," said Juhnke, chairman of the House agriculture finance committee.
State officials in late 2005 suspended a state law requiring 2 percent biodiesel amid reports that filters on diesel trucks using the new blend clogged more frequently.
Pawlenty on Thursday said those glitches have been resolved, but noted that two biofuel-related state task forces would review his plan.
The mandate would be good news for soybean growers, said Rep. Doug Magnus, a farmer and leading proponent of Pawlenty's plan. And while biodiesel is mostly made from soybean oil, the requirement could mean more production of other plants, such as sunflowers, that contain higher percentages of oil than do soybeans.
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"You're basically guaranteeing a market for biodiesel," said Magnus, who was at Farmfest for the governor's announcement.
The biodiesel mandate would fit in with a new state law, Juhnke said. The Legislature earlier this year decided that 25 percent of Minnesota energy - including fuel - should come from renewable sources by 2025.
Wente works for Forum Communications Co., which owns The Forum. He can be reached at (651) 290-0707 or swente@forumcomm.com
