Aon establishes group to manage renewable bio fuel risks

Aon’s Agribusiness and Food Systems Group has created a new unit to focus on the specialized risks associated with the bio-fuels industry.

Aon’s new Agri-Fuels Risk Management Group (AFRMG), based in Kansas City, will be headed up by Senior Rela-tionship Manager Brad Richter and business developer Keith Good-enough. The new unit plans to meet the risk management and insurance requirements for the rapid expansion of the renewable fuels industry.

The bio-fuels debate is rapidly moving to the center of America’s energy policy. The President’s recent State of the Union message calls for a five-fold increase in the mandatory fuels standard, requiring 35 billion gallons of renewable and alternative fuels by 2017, displacing 15 percent of projected annual gasoline use. A well-known renewable energy sources is ethanol. Made from corn and other crops, when blended with unleaded gasoline ethanol becomes a high-octane fuel that proponents have argued for years is the nation’s best option to reduce both fuel costs and the country’s dependence upon foreign oil sources.

Opponents worry that over-emphasizing ethanol could put undue stress on corn growers.

Source: Aon, www.aon.com.