Burgum says decarbonization could double demand for ethanol

FILE – North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum speaks at the state Capitol on April 10, 2020, in Bismarck, N.D. In the coming weeks, at least four additional candidates are expected to launch their own campaigns for the White House, including Burgum. (Mike McCleary/The Bismarck Tribune via AP, File)

SHENANDOAH — Republican presidential candidate Doug Burgum says carbon capture technology can spark what he calls “the golden age of agriculture.”

“The easiest fuel in the world to decarbonize is ethanol,” Burgum says, “and we’ve got an opportunity here in that where this could just keep expanding and double the demand.”

Burgum is the governor of North Dakota and the proposed Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline would ship carbon from Midwest ethanol plants to underground storage in Burgum’s state. “If you’re in Iowa, you should be on Team Liquid Fuels,” Burgum says. “…Being on Team EV, that’s being on Team China right now versus being on Team USA.”

Burgum says the Biden Administration is hurting the U-S economy with “crazy spending” in support of the electric vehicle industry. “We’re going to subsidize with your listeners’ taxpayer dollars 500,000 EV charging stations,” Burgum says. “We’re going to subsidize the purchase of electric vehicles, but then all the batteries are going to be made in China because 85% of all the rare earth minerals are in China.”

Experts say over seven billion barrels of oil could be pumped from the Bakken oil fields in Burgum’s home state and Burgum says it’s time for the U.S. to focus on liquid fuels.

“One of the big arguments people make about EVs is they’ve got low carbon. Well, part of that’s false because all of the carbon intensity that goes into make the batteries and the cars themselves and of course the batteries don’t work in cold weather and they don’t work with heavy loads. There’s a lot of applications where they don’t make sense,” Burgum says. “We have to have liquid fuels. Just the physics of the weight ration of a liquid fuel versus a battery and it’s longevity and what it can do and we definitely need that for aviation.”

Burgum campaigned in southwest Iowa Tuesday and Wednesday.