Source:  MEATINGPLACE.COM, 8/6/10

U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, this week introduced an amendment to the pending energy bill that would pave the way for an expansion of the U.S. biofuels market.

The bill would increase the percentage of U.S. vehicles that can run on flexible fuels, boost the number of blender pumps at refueling stations and authorize loan guarantees for renewable fuel pipelines.

Co-sponsors of the amendment include Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Richard Lugar, R-Ind., Roland Burris, D-Ill., Tim Johnson, D-S.D., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.
 

The amendment would require 50 percent of vehicles manufactured for sale in the United States to be flex-fuel capable by 2013 and 90 percent by 2015. It would also require major fuel distributors to install at least one blender pump at an increasing number of the refueling stations, reaching 50 percent by 2019.

It also authorizes grants of up to 50 percent of project costs for the installation of retail ethanol blend infrastructure including blender pumps, tanks and other equipment as well as loan guarantees covering 80 percent of project costs for renewable fuel pipelines.

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