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Can Biotechnology Save Ethanol?
By Mr Ethanol | March 25, 2008
Truth about Trade & Technology:
Some experts have questioned the feasibility of Congress’s new biofuels mandate, but emerging biotechnologies may boost the industry above and beyond expectations.
Traditional corn ethanol has received a bad rap in the popular press lately due to concerns increased production and conversion of corn into fuel may increase emissions and raise food prices.
Not everyone agrees with these assertions, but almost everyone does agree the fuel of the future will not rely on corn kernels, but on new feedstock options called cellulosic sources. These are often waste products, such as garbage and wood chips, or non-food crops, like switchgrass.
Cellulosic sources have the potential to fuel vehicles without taking land needed to raise food, as well as a host of other benefits. But converting these tough materials into ethanol is much more difficult than using corn.
As a result, some experts have expressed doubt over whether the biofuels industry will be able to meet the new Renewable Fuels Standard, which requires that 21 billion of the 36 billion gallons required by 2022 come from “advanced sources,” or non-traditional ethanol.
In early March, Guy Caruso, head of the Energy Information Administration, told senators cellulosic fuels will fall short of the mandate.
“While the situation is very uncertain at this early date, our current view is that available quantities of cellulosic biofuels prior to 2022 will be insufficient to meet the new RFS targets,” Caruso said at a Senate Energy Committee hearing.
Biotechnology companies disagree. The products they’re developing will unlock the industry, they say, and lead to commercialization within a couple of years. Read full article.
Topics: Biofuel, Ethanol, News, Science, Technology |
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March 25th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
Great post, thanks for the info!