The Department of Energy today announced the investment of more than $84 million in three small-scale cellulosic ethanol projects designed to be the proving grounds for full-scale, commercial production of ethanol from cellulose. The four projects each will produce around 2.5 million gallons of ethanol from cellulosic material annually.
“This kind of partnership between the government and private industry is critical to accelerating the commercialization of cellulosic ethanol technology and ensuring the promise of the recently passed energy bill is realized,� said Renewable Fuels Association President Bob Dinneen. “Without ethanol production from a host of feedstocks including grain and cellulose, our nation cannot meet the energy and environmental challenges it faces. The work that will be done at these facilities will yield commercially-produced ethanol from cellulosic material much sooner than naysayers and conventional wisdom suggest.�
According to a DOE release, the three ethanol projects receiving funding are:
ICM Incorporated of Colwich, Kansas DOE will provide up to $30 million for a proposed plant that will be located in St. Joseph, Missouri, and will utilize diverse and relevant feedstocks including agricultural residues, such as corn fiber, corn stover, switchgrass and sorghum. ICM, Inc. will integrate biochemical and thermochemical processing and demonstrate energy recycling within the same facility.
Lignol Innovations Inc., of Berwyn, Pennsylvania DOE will provide up to $30 million for a proposed plant, co-located with a petroleum refinery, which will be located in Commerce City, Colorado, and using biochem-organisolve, will convert hard and soft wood residues into ethanol and commercial products, co-located with a petroleum refinery.
Pacific Ethanol Inc., of Sacramento, California DOE will provide up to $24.3 million for a proposed plant to be located in Boardman, Oregon, and will convert agricultural and forest product residues to ethanol using BioGasol’s proprietary conversion process.
RFA President Bob Dinneen has been reappointed to the Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee for a term of three years.
Acting Secretary of Agriculture Chuck Conner and Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman today announced the appointment of six new members and the reappointment of seven members to serve on the committee.
Newly appointed members are:
Gil Gutknecht, Co-Chair, Consultant, Rochester, Minn.; Richard Hamilton, CEO, Ceres, Inc.; Jay Levenstein, Deputy Commissioner, Florida Department of Agriculture; Shirley J. Neff, Association of Oil Pipe Lines; Tom Simpson, Railway Supply Institute; Richard Timmons, American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association.
Other reappointed members include:
Douglas Hawkins, Rohm and Haas Company; Charles Kinoshita, University of Hawaii at Manoa; Eric Larson, Princeton University; James Martin, Omni Tech International; Scott Mason, Director, ConocoPhillips Petroleum Company; Edwin White, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry.
President Bush welcomed the heads of Detroit’s Big 3 automakers to the White House Monday to discuss the role of ethanol and other biofuels in achieving the president’s goal of reducing gasoline consumption by 20 percent by 2017. Using this as a hook, the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer took a closer look at the merits as a replacement fuel for gasoline.
Participating in that discussion was RFA President and Promoter-in-Chief Bob Dinneen. As you can tell from the transcript, the discussion did not lack passion as Dinneen took on ethanol armchair critic Robert Bryce over the wisdom of promoting the production and use of ethanol.
As Dinneen pointed out, ethanol is not the sole solution to our nation’s energy needs. But it is a good foundation and logical place to start. As he put it, if we don’t start taking steps now to diversify our energy supply, we will never achieve our energy goals.
The transcript can be viewed and heard here:
Online NewsHour: Analysis | President Urges Ethanol Cars | March 26, 2007 | PBS
President Bush is set to meet with the president of Brazil to discuss a range of issues facing our two countries, including the growing world ethanol market. While the U.S. ethanol certainly supports developing a world market for ethanol, it believes such development should not come at the expense of American taxpayers or our efforts to develop our domestic program.
Responding to comments by Brazilian President Lula and other Brazilian officials, RFA President Bob Dinneen said:
“Expanding the marketplace for ethanol around the globe is an admirable goal and one that should be commended and explored. But it must be done in the context of fair trade. No effort to encourage ethanol production in the Western Hemisphere or around the world should require American taxpayers to bear the burden. Yet, that is exactly what President Lula and the Brazilian government are asking for in calling on President Bush to end the credit offset which prevents U.S. taxpayer subsidies for foreign ethanol. The credit offset poses no barrier to Brazilian ethanol which has enjoyed more than 30 years of government support dating back to the military dictatorships of the 1970s.”
To read Dinneen’s full comments, click HERE.Â
This week, President Bush will be traveling to Brazil to meet with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to discuss a proposed ethanol initiative between the two countries. One topic about which Brazilian leaders have been complaining loudly is the secondary tariff on imported ethanol. The Brazilian president and other officials have claimed it acts to block imports of Brazilian ethanol into the U.S. Nothing could be further from the truth. In 2006 alone, more than 430 million gallons of Brazilian ethanol was imported, representing two-thirds of total imports.Â
During a preview of the president’s visit to Brazil, U.S. National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley told reporters that discussion of tampering with or removing the secondary tariff was “not under negotiation.”
Because the tariff acts simply to offset the tax incentive for which Brazilian and all foreign ethanol is eligible, President Lula da Silva’s complaints must stem from a desire to gain access to the wallets of American taxpayers to support a Brazilian industry that has received heavy government support for more than 30 years.Â
The Department of Energy announced 6 recipients of cellulosic ethanol grants to help accelerate the development of the cellulosic ethanol industry. The grants are a public/private partnership between the DOE and the award recipients. The total investment from both sectors totals $1.2 billion.
“Cellulosic ethanol production is a must if we truly aspire to move this country toward a more diverse energy future,� said Renewable Fuels Association President Bob Dinneen. “While corn will remain a key component of our ethanol industry, the kind of production necessary to greatly reduce gasoline consumption in this country can only be realized from the addition of cellulosic material as a feedstock. These grants are critical to bringing cellulosic ethanol to the commercial market and underscore the important partnership the federal government must have with the U.S. ethanol industry to achieve both our short-term and long-term energy goals.�
Those recipients include:
- Abengoa Bioenergy Biomass of Kansas, LLC
- ALICO, Inc.
- BlueFire Ethanol, Inc.
- Broin CompaniesÂ
- Iogen Biorefinery Partners, LLC
- Range Fuels
 Visit the RFA website or the Department of Energy for more information.Â
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