Aon forms biofuels unit

CHICAGO--Aon Corp. has formed a new unit focusing on the specialized insurance and risk management needs of the renewable fuels industry, the Chicago-based brokerage said.

The new Agri-Fuels Risk Management Group will be based in Kansas City, Mo., and will be led by Senior Relationship Manager Brad Richter and Business Developer Keith Goodenough, Aon said Wednesday in a statement.

President Bush's recent State of the Union message calls for requiring 35 billion gallons of renewable and alternative fuels by 2017, which would displace 15% of projected annual gasoline use, Aon said in the statement.

"This is new ground for many established corporations, and there are new companies entering the marketplace every day," said Rick Shanks, national managing director of Aon's Agribusinss and Food System Group, in the statement. "Dozens of new ethanol plants are expected to come online this year alone. For the U.S., it's not whether bio-fuels will be produced, but how much and how fast."