BioFuels Journal

Washington—November 5, 2015—Voters gave strong support yesterday to biotechnology, electing candidates who have touted the benefits of innovation in the use of enzymes, microorganisms, and biopolymers for agriculture and energy.

Iowa Senator-elect Joni Ernst, South Dakota Senator-elect Mike Rounds, Nebraska Governor-elect Pete Ricketts, and Iowa Governor Terry Branstad are all proponents of biotechnology as an economic driver.

“Biotech is critical for creating a strong economy based on sustainable use of natural resources,” said Novozymes Americas President Adam Monroe.

“We look forward to working with these elected officials who understand the importance of innovative biotechnology.”

Novozymes enzymes are used to produce a wide range of products, including food, beverages, textiles, pharmaceuticals, detergents, cleaning supplies and renewable fuels.

Novozymes also produces natural microorganisms that support healthy, productive crops that are resistant to pests and extreme weather.

Agriculture

For the past decade, South Dakota Senator-elect Rounds has pushed to attract biotech companies to his state.

In 2011, he spoke at the Livestock Biotech Summit on the “global importance of biotechnology in agriculture, medicine, and energy.”

Nebraska Governor-elect Ricketts has been a strong proponent of innovative agriculture, saying that “it boosts farm and ranch income [and] creates new opportunities for young people.”

Iowa Governor Branstad grew up on a farm and this year defended modern agriculture against “outside groups that have little knowledge.”

Renewable Fuels

During the campaign, Iowa Senator-elect Ernst expressed her support for the Renewable Fuel Standard, saying that “the RFS is important to Iowa and our economy. I have always been a supporter of and an advocate for the RFS.”

Senator-elect Rounds said that he supports the RFS because it “allows the ethanol industry to mature.”

He also said that “at this stage of the game, E15 works.”

In August, Governor-elect Ricketts visited and toured the Novozymes production facility in Nebraska, which produces enzymes for the biofuels industry.

On his website, Ricketts says that he supports the RFS and opposes the EPA’s proposed cuts. He says also that he supports “encouraging higher blend levels, locally and across the nation.”

Iowa Governor Branstad also said that cutting biofuel targets in the RFS would be “disastrous to Iowa and the upper Midwest.”

“I would like to congratulate all of these candidates on their victories,” Monroe said. “We look forward to working with them as we build and grow the biotechnology industry.”.

For more information, please contact David McGlinchey at 1-919-494-3116 or [email protected]

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