Future of energy in the willows - New Era of bioenergy has begun

"The one common denominator among renewable fuel technologies is biomass," Robert Lane, Chairman and CEO of Deere and Company said
"In reality, the cellulose in biomass has the potential to create a great deal more energy than corn," U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns said.
"Wind is where people ain't," Pat Wood said.
By Doug Rich

Ethanol is leading the way as this country enters a new era of bioenergy, but ethanol is not the silver bullet that will solve all of our energy problems. It will take a portfolio of energy resources to help us kick our addiction to oil.
At the "Advancing Renewable Energy" conference in St. Louis, Mo., Oct. 11 and 12 all types of energy from ethanol to wind were mentioned. Here is what a few of the speakers had to say about the current condition of these renewable energy sources and what their future might be in this country.
Ethanol: Today there are 100 plants producing close to five billions gallons each year. There are 44 plants under construction that could add another three billion gallons of ethanol to that total.
There was no bigger ethanol cheerleader at the conference than Vinod Khosla, found of Khosla Ventures, co-founder of Sun Microsystems, and former partner of Kleiner Perkins Kaufield and Byers. Forbes and Fortune magazines labeled Khosla as the nation's most influential ethanol advocate.
"The reason to support ethanol in public policy debates for me is the feeling that I can really make a visible difference and it will lead to more than a marginal change," Khosla said. "But the real answer is my belief that it (ethanol) has the lowest risk strategy to impact peak oil, greenhouse emission, energy security, rural employment, and reducing worldwide poverty and terrorism."
"The truth is that corn ethanol is a crucial first step toward developing a clean, economical domestic energy portfolio capable of making petroleum obsolete," Khosla said. "I believe we can replace most of our gasoline needs in 25 years with biomass from our farmlands and municipal waste while creating a huge economic boom cycle and a cheaper cleaner fuel for consumers."
Cellulosic Ethanol: Currently nearly all of the ethanol in this country is made from corn or grain sorghum. The real potential for replacing gasoline from oil in this country is cellulosic ethanol from biomass.
"In reality, the cellulose in biomass has the potential to create a great deal more energy than corn," U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns said. "With each passing day we come closer to a cost-effective technique for releasing that energy on a broader scale."
The challenge is to find a costs-effective way of breaking down the tough cell walls of biomass material so that it can be converted to energy. U.S Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman said the most promising way of doing this is through microbes.
"The trick is to find the right microbe to interact with the right biomass source," Bodman said. "We need to match the bug to the plant by re-engineering both. Our goal is to make cellulosic ethanol cost-competitive by 2012."
A 2005 USDA/DOE study reported that by 2030 more than 800 million tons per year of biomass could be produced from crop residue and perennial corps in the U.S. another 120 million ton could come from forest residues on an annual basis.
Robert Lane, Chairman and CEO of Deere and Company, said the challenge is how to produce, collect, transport, and process this huge volume of energy feedstocks.
"The one common denominator among renewable fuel technologies is biomass," Lane said. "It is the essential ingredient, regardless of the product or conversion technology."
Critical to the development of cellulosic ethanol is the adoption of E85 across the nation. At this time there are 900 E85 stations across the country.
Biodiesel: Today there are 86 biodiesel plants in operation and another 78 plants are under construction or expansion.
"This will increase our production capacity to more than one billion gallons of biodiesel per year," Johanns said.
The Biodiesel Board said the production of biodiesel grew from 500,00 gallons in 1999 to 75 million gallons in 2005 and is expected to double to 150 million gallons this year.
"Biodiesel, renewable diesel, and blends with conventional diesel will likely grow as companies look for flexibility in complying with Energy Policy Act requirements and with Ultra-Low Sulfur-diesel regulations," Red Cavaney, CEO and President of API said. "Biodiesel has an attractive future and that potential will be best realized through a market-driven approach."
Wind: In his remarks President Bush joked about putting a couple of windmills in Washington, D.C., which he described as a pretty windy place. But the potential for wind energy in this country is very real.
The President's FY2007 budget proposes $44 million in funding for wind energy research. Nearly six percent of the continental U.S. has been identified as highly suitable for construction of wind turbines. According to the President's Advanced Energy Initiative this area has the potential to supply up to 20 percent of the Nation's electricity.
"We need more resilience in our grid system to take stranded wind energy to the rests of the country," R. James Woolly, formed CIA Director, said.
Pat Wood III, immediate past chairman of the Federal energy Regulatory Commission and now a principal in Wood3 Resources, noted that Texas is the number one wind state in the country now, ahead of California. Wood, who worked under then Governor Bush in Texas, envision a corridor that extends from Texas to the Dakotas that would be dedicated to wind energy production. This corridor would send electrical east and west.
"We need a bigger and more expansive power grid," Wood said. "It must have regional energy balancing markets to spill into or buy from."
Wind turbines can be built and installed faster than transmission lines can be constructed. The need now is for new transmission lines to carry wind generated electricity to populated areas of the country. As Wood said, "Wind is where people ain't."
Hydrogen Fuel Cells: Not everyone at this convention was sold on the potential of hydrogen fuel cells.
"Hydrogen is an interesting, clean fuel but as a program to bring about improvements in energy resilience it should move back on the lists of priorities," R. James Woolsey said.
"We don't need hydrogen," Vinod Khosla said.
Red Cavaney, CEO of the American Petroleum Institute, said they have formed a research alliance with Georgia Tech and the University of "California at Davis to pursue technology aimed at making Hydrogen-viable transportation fuels.
President Bush said one of the ways to make sure we become less dependent on oil is through hydrogen. "We're spending $1.2 billion to encourage hydrogen fuel cells," President Bush said.
"Our challenge is to increase the production and use of alternative energy across the nation, to maximize its potential so that renewable fuels are an economically viable and sustainable alternative to traditional energy sources," Johanns said.
10/18/2006