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Former faculty member to make ethanol presentation

By David Gonnerman '90
January 10, 2007

Former St. Olaf faculty member Jason Hill will speak about ethanol Thursday, Jan. 18, 7-8:30 p.m. in Science Center 282 at St. Olaf College. The event, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Northfield and the Cannon River Watershed Partnership, as well as the St. Olaf Environmental Studies Department and the St. Olaf Environmental Coalition.

The presentation will provide a forum for area residents to express opinions about the current proposal to build an ethanol plant south of Northfield.

"While much of the press as well as both political parties talk about ethanol in positive terms, the 'renewability' of ethanol from corn may not be as rosy as it sounds," says St. Olaf Professor of Biology Gene Bakko, curator of the college's natural lands. Hill is co-author of a definitive ethanol study that was published last year in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. Media outlets around the world have cited the study's conclusions that the costs of producing ethanol can outweigh its benefits.

More recently, Hill co-authored another ethanol article that appears in Science magazine.

Hill is a former member of the St. Olaf Biology Department, where he performed some of research for his articles with help from biology major Kyla Bauer '06.

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.