Ethanol Sees Gains in 2000

Iowans pumped a lot of ethanol this year, tens of thousands more gallonsthan last year, according to a study by the Iowa Corn Promotion Board.Cassandra Donn is spokeswoman for the board. Donn says the increase fromOctober of 1999 to October of 2000 is about six percent. She says thenumbers are even better in the most recent month in the survey. Ethanolproduction generates more than one-point-seven billion dollars in economicactivity and adds 730-million dollars in value to the state’s corn crop.Donn explains why the board thinks Iowans are buying so much more of thecorn-based fuel. Donn says the message is getting out that ethanol isn’tjust less expensive, but that it’s a cleaner burning, more efficient fuel.She says the renewable fuel can also reduce U-S dependence on foreign oil by100-thousand barrels a day.