Tobacco Documents Online

® 0 Q a a a s. }` 0 f *~,u ........ ~c.n U.S. Reduce Imports T-Malh G~',..,so~..~i+? Soml'c Say ya; ka. Officials Are D,wbib- •^"'"- By «ALTERS. MOSSHERC e:::se they are attached to the Senate ver, tYfJRlyGrIRY/77f61ti'At1STR6CTJOQRN4Lsion of President Carter's energy-tLx bill. ,' {FAS:UNGTON - Growing numbers of wSicf: is to deep trouble in Congress and ;farm-sate politicians, businessmen and re- may not pass, at least this year. searchers are convinced they know hosv to EazLt the Cotn titian help solve the energy shortage and the g T~ farm sstrplus problem at the same time.. In any case, the Carter administration ~ Their plan ' is to get the country.: on r.as moved on Its own to help gasohoL It has "gasohol," an automotive fuel consisting of established regulations that make gasohol gasoline and 10% alcohol that is made eligible for the government's complex sys- from fermented gtain- Its proponents want tems of petroleum subs'.dies and price con- the U.S to:follow the lead of Brazil in con- trols. These moves allow gasohol to compete ver•.ing cars to run on the alcohol mirture. more easily with gasoline. In addttlon4 the ;,=.•Gasohol- backers reason. that replacing Energy Department, under pressure from 1096 of U-S. gasoline with ethanol, or alcohol Congress. has agreed to consider eommit- that•is distilled from grain,='would help fing federal funds to promote the commer streteh precious Artter(can oil- supplies and cialtration of gasohoL reduce dependence on :petroleum imports- To 1ts prvpenents, gasobol is an energy WhaYs more, thiS fuel would provide a new dream come true. Nebraska's official gaso-. : market. for farmers,? easing-thetr .money iol committee reports that a fleet of i*5. -tt+oubles and their discontent with Washing- state-owned eazs, driven on gasohol1 for two _ ••. - . . - . .._ - million miles used'5% lesa fuel.than with an- ton: .. -.;::. ._ The propoaents say gasotiol is a deani ef- leaded gasoline. The cars also emttted one•_'.' l fteient fuel that can be used In most I1.S-- third less carbon monoxlde.• ears. with' little ~or;'Lo modifioation'ot'en- SncourRged by that exper[ence, at least gines. Clities, ineluding auto execntiVes and 25 servkce stations in Indiana. Illinois and govemment.':officials,. are dttbious'aboat Iowa are expected to offer gasobol for sale some of these claims. But gasobo1 fans are this.summer:,' IYs safe to say"that alcohol nndaanted; and their idea seems to be eatch= fuel, produced on an economlcaliy and com- ln` on.."The potential for alcohol fuel Is fan- merciaAy feasible batis,.-ts :a good tdea tastie; ' asserts Sen. Birch Bayh. an Indiana whose time has come,•• Sett:.8ayb asserts. :' Demoerat and a gasohol mihvslast .` Maybe so. But nagging questions about - ._ the fuel remain- In a recent report, the Bn- ergy Department warned of "several major nncertalnties concerning alcoholfuel supply: potentfaLproductioneos4"and other tssaes:. For ane tbtag, the report declared tlut eren~~ using all available farmland to plant aops. for producing alcohol would sattsty,omfy 8% of current U.S;,1_iquidi-faei needs.; The Ptoblem of Cost ~ What'.s more, the - EnergyDep'artment concluded that, without a heavy federal'sub- sidy, alcohol from grain "1s not likely to be ia commerctal fuel use in large-quanttttes because of the high cost alone.:' Thene's. another problem eonlrontfa= backers of alcohol made from grain: A eom- peting type of alcohol currently seems ~eaper. Ttiat rival Is methanol~ produced from coal. The Energy Department says that methanol from coal would be "slgnlf' tcantly less costly than ethanoL" Moreover, both General Motors :Corp. and Ford Motor Co. contend that any gaso- line-alcoLol mix has eetuin drawbacks. For lnst:ace, the companies warn that if ga~chol comes in contaet'vrith aater, it can easily se;z:ate back tnto a!ecf.ol and gasolt-e. T`ey say there is grealer danger of corro- sson of en; ce parts v.itL gasohol ~ than s: ~tn g-so1~e. at:d GM es" :es L%-- car cF:.nts r.:i,.",t have to saend' t:5 to $75 to adjsst -.-.. .-..---...... -:P ~...-.., 1W Drive: Brazi~ Spends I~~illions To Put ~~.cohol in Cars and Save Oil~ } Promoffns a.Fhel ~ -:1b foster gasobol use; Nebraaka has en: `,'i, iablished a tax-financid commlttee- A doxea . offier states have joined Nebraska In form•. tng the Rattonal Gasohol Commissloa to pro- mote the fueL' The plans being pusbcd by these groups are much less ambitious than Brazil+s pr4 gram for eventually converttng all Its cars ' to alcohol-based fuels. For now. U.S gasohol proponenis'are mainly trying to interest the federal government and private indusriy in the Idea and to get a few Midacst service : stations to sell the stuff on a trial basts. ?" Midwestern Senatars, -including Sen. Bayh and Sen. Charles Percy. an Illlhois Re- publican, have managed to ain Senate ap- proval for certain measures to Intrease gasohol production. One of these is an ex- e-^tptton for 10~n alcohol mixtures from the federal gasoline excise tax, which currently amounts to four cents a gallon. Another Sen- ate measure would allow farmers to plant crops for altohol pwduction on land cur- rentiy left idle to comply with farm-subsidy rules. A third bill would require the Ener.gy Deaartment to test gasohol for three years t, a^ee: o: ?J0govere:-ent-oµTed cars ar.d to testL a l4~ •alcohol fuel in anober 160 -at_ However, t':cse meascres haven't passed -- ---- ie ficcee. ar: t'r.ti- :zte is uacertwc be- ; Y. ® ® m o!v a s] r. .