Ethanol has a proven track. In 2008, it created 240,000 jobs and contributed USD 20 billion to American’s household incomes. The nine billion gallons of ethanol produced last year saved the US from importing an additional 321 million barrels of foreign oil.
Current expectations have the first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plants operational in 2011–2012. The abundance of cellulosic material worldwide means that the options for ethanol feedstock are greatly expanded.
Recently, a lot of attention has been focused on wood as a feedstock. According to the Billion Ton Study by the DOE and USDA, the US alone can produce 368 million dry tons of wood and wood residues annually. The two biggest components of this supply are 145 million dry tons from wood processing and pulp and paper mills and 64 million dry tons from logging and site clearing operations. It should be noted that this study did not include the use of wood feedstock in forestland that is not accessible by roads or in environmentally sensitive areas.
The benefits of using these resources to make cellulosic ethanol are two-fold. It allows us to do more with raw material we have at hand and it makes existing industrial operations more environmentally-friendly.
Depending on its specific composition and the conversion technology used, this amount of wood residue could be converted into 22-35 billion gallons of ethanol. Using this currently “idle” material to make ethanol could supply about 25% of the America’s fuel needs.
Society’s energy needs – fuel, electricity, water, etc. – are complex, and at any given time the market value of each of these commodities is different in relation to the others. But the needs are real and must be met with the least possible impact to the environment. Based on scientific evidence and a strong track record, biofuel – both starch and cellulosic ethanol – represents the beginning of the world’s ability to make the best use of our resources.
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