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A tractor in Lena, Ill., scoops up a corn meal by-product of the ethanol process that is sold to farmers for cattle feed. Iowa and Illinois produce the majority of ethanol in the United States, while Idaho produces none.

Ethanol gas-supplement law rejected by Idaho legislature

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A proposed requirement for Idaho service stations to eventually sell gasoline that contains 10 percent fuel made from corn or straw died in a House committee March 8, as lawmakers opted to study the issue this summer instead.

The bill passed the Senate 27-8 Feb. 23, with proponents arguing that Idaho-made ethanol blended with gas would help wean America from dependence on foreign oil and provide farmers with another market for their crops.

The measure, promoted by the Idaho Farm Federation Bureau, would required gas for cars to be blended with ethanol as soon as Idaho has production facilities that can produce at least 30 million gallons of ethanol annually from Idaho-grown crops.

Critics said too many questions remain about whether such a mandate was a good thing, including the cost for service stations to retrofit storage tanks, the logistics of delivering ethanol and concerns about possible interruptions to the fuel supply.

“It needs some time to get the questions answered, so in the future, if problems come up, nobody can say, ‘This bill was railroaded through,’” Rep. Dell Raybould, R-Rexburg and chairman of the House Environment, Energy and Technology Committee, told the Associated Press.

Other concerns included whether it requires more energy to make ethanol than is actually derived from the grain alcohol.