Obama trying to give biofuels a bump
by Jeremy Korzeniewski on May 6th 2009 at 7:59PM 
Currently, the United States isn't producing enough biofuels to satisfy the requirements set out by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, and President Obama's administration is planning to do something about it. On Tuesday, Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced a new $786.5 million program to speed development and commercialization of biofuels in America.
Of the $786.5 million fund, which will be drawn from President Obama's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, $480 million will be used to build pilot- and demonstration-scale biofuel refineries, $176.5 million will be used to build commercial biofuel refineries and $130 million will fund various biofuel research programs.
Further, a new Biofuels Interagency Working Group was formed on Tuesday to promote biofuel use in America and reduce the country's dependence on foreign oil. The panel consists of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and Energy Secretary Steven Chu.
President Obama also announced that the U.S. EPA would launch a new study on the effect corn-based ethanol has on overall greenhouse gas emissions. Currently, almost 100% of all ethanol used in the United States is derived from corn, which is a significantly less desirable way to create ethanol than new cellulosic technologies.
[Source: Detroit News, DOE | Image Source: John Moore/Getty]
PRESS RELEASE:
Secretary Chu Announces Nearly $800 Million from Recovery Act to Accelerate Biofuels Research and Commercialization
New green jobs a benefit of effort to end dependence on foreign oil
WASHINGTON, D.C. - As part of the ongoing effort to increase the use of domestic renewable fuels, U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu today announced plans to provide $786.5 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to accelerate advanced biofuels research and development and to provide additional funding for commercial-scale biorefinery demonstration projects.
"Developing the next generation of biofuels is key to our effort to end our dependence on foreign oil and address the climate crisis -- while creating millions of new jobs that can't be outsourced," Secretary Chu said. "With American investment and ingenuity -- and resources grown right here at home -- we can lead the way toward a new green energy economy."
The DOE biomass program will leverage DOE's national laboratories, universities, and the private sector to help improve biofuels reliability and overcome key technical challenges, with the goal of creating third-generation biofuels like green gasoline, diesel, and jet fuels.
The $786.5 million in Recovery Act funding is a mix of new funding opportunities and additional funding for existing projects. It will be allocated across four main areas:
$480 million solicitation for integrated pilot- and demonstration-scale biorefineries
Projects selected under this Funding Opportunity Announcement will work to validate integrated biorefinery technologies that produce advanced biofuels, bioproducts, and heat and power in an integrated system, thus enabling private financing of commercial-scale replications.
DOE anticipates making 10 to 20 awards for refineries at various scales and designs, all to be operational in the next three years. The DOE funding ceiling is $25 million for pilot-scale projects and $50 million for demonstration scale projects.
These integrated biorefineries will reduce dependence on petroleum-based transportation fuels and chemicals. They will also facilitate the development of an "advanced biofuels" industry to meet the federal Renewable Fuel Standards.
$176.5 million for commercial-scale biorefinery projects
$176.5 million will be used to increase the federal funding ceiling on two or more demonstration- or commercial-scale biorefinery projects that were selected and awarded within the last two years.
The goal of these efforts is to reduce the risk of the development and deployment of these first-of-a-kind operations. These funds are expected to expedite the construction phase of these projects and ultimately accelerate the timeline for start up and commissioning.
$110 million for fundamental research in key program areas
The Biomass Program plans to use $110 million to support fundamental research in key program areas, distributed in the following manner:
* Expand the resources available for sustainability research through the Office of Science Bioenergy Research Centers and establish a user-facility/small-scale integrated pilot plant ($25 million);
* Create an advanced research consortium to develop technologies and facilitate subsequent demonstration of infrastructure-compatible biofuels through a competitive solicitation ($35 million); and
* Create an algal biofuels consortium to accelerate demonstration of algal biofuels through a competitive solicitation ($50 million).
This funding will help to develop cutting-edge conversion technologies, including generating more desirable catalysts, fuel-producing microbes, and feedstocks.
$20 million for ethanol research
The Biomass Program is planning to use $20 million of the Recovery Act funding in a competitive solicitation to achieve the following:
* Optimize flex-fuel vehicles operating on high octane E85 fuel (85 percent ethanol, 15 percent gasoline blend);
* Evaluate the impact of higher ethanol blends in conventional vehicles; and
* Upgrade existing refueling infrastructure to be compatible with fuels up to E85.
For more information on these and other Recovery Act related funding opportunities, visit energy.gov/recovery.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Tony 8:05PM (5/06/2009)
Grow food to feed the starving, not feed the Escalades and Denali's.
Reply
jpm100 9:20PM (5/06/2009)
We're making more ethanol than ever and no one is starving like last year.
Last year was the fault of unexpected weather in the rest of the world leading to unexpected demand for North American corn, not the more predictable demand from ethanol.
cdwrx 9:46PM (5/06/2009)
@ jpm100,
About 850 million people are considered to be starving and by 2015 it is predicted we will add another 100 million, hardly "no one."
DayShifter 8:46AM (5/07/2009)
I agree with you, but unless there's money to be made by feeding the starving, on the level we're thinking about, it will never happen. You know what makes the world go around....
no. 11:02PM (5/06/2009)
You mean tax the rich and successful to feed the poor.
Spread the wealth around a little.
Alex 11:19PM (5/06/2009)
As others have been saying, using food for fuel is DUMB. Mandating corn derived ethanol led to a number of things over the past few years:
1) Corn prices skyrocketed. 2) Meat prices skyrocket as a result (poultry, beef - across the board) since they feed off the stuff. 3) Soybean goes through the roof seeing as how fewer farmers want to grow the stuff and LOVE the profit margins from corn so soybean oil prices skyrocket.
Bottom line is there's so much interdependency on corn that pretty much EVERY food item is affected by ethanol production.
zard 11:28PM (5/06/2009)
These ppl never heard of celluloid and algae ethanol i guess...Most of those money is going to non-food based ethanol production...fuel from food-based crop is going to be history
Clay Garland 11:53PM (5/06/2009)
I wonder if Obama's plan includes mi.lions of dollars to pay farmers not to grow corn so as to drive the price up?
Alex 11:55PM (5/06/2009)
Cellulosic ethanol's been around for a while but the U.S. seems to have missed the boat for the most part. Lobbying from the farming industry must be pretty intense.
Matt 1:52AM (5/07/2009)
When E85 starts saving me more than 8% over E10 at the pump, that is when I'll start paying more attention. For now, Biofuels remain a nice choice for those who don't want to help Dubai purchase more Bugattis. :)
http://whybuydomestic.wordpress.com/2009/05/07/accelerated-biofuel-research-shows-us-what-gm-has-been-saying-for-years/
HJC 2 11:11AM (5/07/2009)
Alcohol blend ...what a waste
Food prices UP
Cost more to produce
Energy waster
Decreases gas mileage
Poor use of land
OUR GOVERNMENT IN ACTION
(do they do anything right?)
Oh yes spend our money and raise taxes
Rev 8:44PM (5/07/2009)
TONY:
The corn used for HFCS (high-fructose corn syrup) isn't edible. The poor and starving can live without corn sweeteners (real butter tastes better on popcorn, anyways). There's also something called "sugar" which comes from sugar cane which is edible and tasty.
Look into it sometime...
matt 8:27PM (5/06/2009)
more expensive corn is NOT a tax on the bottom 95%
Reply
Temple 2:34AM (5/07/2009)
Way this country works is that taxpayers flip the bill in the form of subsidies when corn prices are low. Having cheap corn means taxpayers need to pay farmers billions of dollars. Either way you pay.
This goes back to the Nixon administration when there was a food price scare, George Naylor, head of the Department of Agriculture at the time implement the current system that is used today.
These ethanol programs are designed to keep corn prices high so that tax payer money doesn't need to spent on ag subsidies (remember, the US spends hundreds of Billions on agricultural subsidies). In addition to that, created jobs in rural areas and displace foreign oil from places that hate the US.
Jake B 8:57PM (5/06/2009)
Excellent, more dumb legislation from a dumb administration.
Reply
Sea Urchin 9:28PM (5/06/2009)
Thank you.
Look i am all for using less oil, we need to stop using oil ASAP. But the way to do it is to tax gasoline and increase CAFE. That will allow the market to chose the RIGHT fuel, and if the government does not like that fuel, they can tax it also.
How many billions did we spend on useless ethanol, how many more will we spend on this bio diesel thing?
Mr.Oak 9:53PM (5/06/2009)
A dumb Administration? Compared to whose administration? Genius George? You clowns are full of opinions and hot air. What's dumb about researching biofuels? or would rather just to continue paying for ugly as hell gold plated SLRs for the ARABS?
I agree that corn is not the best choice, however the article said nothing about corn. there are a number of other sources being considered for ethanol.
At least Obama has the vision and courage to address a 3 decade old issue that jackass George pretended didn't exist.
Mr.Oak 10:11PM (5/06/2009)
One more point, ask Brazil what BioFuels did for their economy. Exxon-Mobil, Shell, BP etc are not interested in changing the status quo, not when they're rolling billions. China's and India's increasing demand for petroleum, more competition for shrinking supplies, makes this the right time to go in a different direction.
Urchin, the only problem with your method, is that nothing would happen for the next 50 years.
Sea Urchin 10:32PM (5/06/2009)
Look Mr Oak let's set the record straight, Bush was an oil who**, he did everything to make sure that arabs and exxon own us. Having said that, Obama follows this policy where government puts its hands on everything, how much can credit cards charge, CEOs pay and the type of fuel we use. I think market should determine the fuel.......with a nudge from the government to the right direction.
Mr.Oak 10:59PM (5/06/2009)
Urchin:
Government intervention was required to correct the mistakes of "The Market".
We need less government right now in the same way the folks in New Orleans needed less government during Katrina.
"The Market" would NEVER lay out the money for the infrastructure for a new energy source, not as long as the one that's currently in place continues to makes them money.
The Market is made up of band-wagon jumpers, not trail blazers.
It was the US that created the "Oil Economy". Back then we exported oil to the world. Now the oil flows the other way. Time to move on.