04 February 2010

Boosting Biofuels, Clean Coal Promotes U.S. Energy Independence

Biofuels to reduce foreign oil dependence by millions of barrels each year

 

President Barack Obama meets with a bipartisan group of state governors at the White House in Washington February 3.

President Barack Obama meets with a bipartisan group of state governors at the White House in Washington February 3.

By Cheryl Pellerin
Science Writer

Washington ― The United States is boosting the contribution of biofuels and clean coal to its strategy for increasing American energy independence and laying the foundation for a new clean-energy economy.

At a February 3 meeting with a bipartisan group of state governors, President Obama announced actions that include a revised renewable fuel standard, financial incentives for farmers who produce biomass crops, a strategy for promoting and commercializing a biofuels industry, and a new interagency task force to advance the technology for capturing and storing carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from coal-burning power plants.

“Now, I happen to believe that we should pass a comprehensive energy and climate bill. It will make clean energy the profitable kind of energy, and the decision by other nations to do this is already giving their businesses a leg up on developing clean-energy jobs and technologies,” Obama told the governors.

“But even if you disagree on the threat posed by climate change,” he added, “investing in clean-energy jobs and businesses is still the right thing to do for our economy. Reducing our dependence on foreign oil is still the right thing to do for our security. We can’t afford to spin our wheels while the rest of the world speeds ahead.”

HOMEGROWN ENERGY

One measure revises an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) renewable fuel standard to raise annual volumes for some kinds of biofuels and raise the total amount of renewable fuel that must be used in transportation fuel.

The standard calls for biofuel production to increase from 2009’s 11.1 billion gallons to 36 billion gallons in 2022, with 21 billion gallons to come from advanced biofuels — those that don’t come from corn, or those like algae-based ones that have 50 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions than gasoline or diesel.

Increasing renewable fuels will reduce dependence on oil by more than 328 million barrels a year and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 138 million metric tons a year by 2022. For the first time, some renewable fuels must reduce emissions relative to the gasoline and diesel fuels they replace to be counted as complying with volume standards.

 

Different types of algae are growing in a Colorado State University laboratory to produce an oil derivative.

Different types of algae are growing in a Colorado State University laboratory to produce an oil derivative.

By 2022, the new standard is expected to raise farmers’ incomes by $13 billion a year and stabilize fuel prices for consumers.

INCENTIVES AND STRATEGIES

As part of the announcement, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) proposed a new Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) that will give financial incentives to farmers, ranchers and forest landowners who invest in and produce biomass for energy. Biomass is organic material such as wood or other plants.

“Facilities that produce renewable fuel from biomass have to be designed, built and operated,” USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack said. “Additionally, BCAP will stimulate biomass production, and that will benefit producers and provide the materials necessary to generate clean energy and reduce carbon pollution.”

The program has already begun to provide matching payments to those who are delivering biomass for collecting, harvesting, storing and transporting to eligible conversion facilities.

On February 3, Obama’s Biofuels Interagency Working Group released its first report ― Growing America’s Fuel (PDF, 164 KB).The report, by co-chairs Vilsack, Energy Secretary Steven Chu and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, lays out a strategy to speed the development and commercialization of the U.S. biofuels industry.

The report targets short-term government solutions that support today’s biofuels industry and accelerate the commercial establishment of advanced biofuels, and a long-term market by transforming how the U.S. government does business across departments and uses public-private partnerships.

Obama also released a presidential memorandum creating an interagency task force on CO₂ capture and storage. The group will develop a federal strategy for accelerating the development of clean-coal technologies. Within 180 days the task force will develop a plan to overcome the barriers to deploying widespread, affordable CO₂ capture and storage within 10 years and establishing up to 10 commercial demonstration projects by 2016.

“President Obama and this administration are strongly committed to the development of carbon capture and storage technology as a key part of the clean-energy economy. We can and should lead the world in this technology and the jobs it can create,” Chu said.

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