By DOUG SCHMITZ
Iowa Correspondent

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a joint effort to promote energy policies previously initiated by the Bush administration, the USDA and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently unveiled its National Biofuels Action Plan (NBAP) that the USDA stated would “accelerate the development of a sustainable biofuels industry.”

“Federal leadership can provide the vision for research, industry and citizens to understand how the nation will become less dependent on foreign oil and create strong rural economies,” USDA Secretary Ed Schafer said. “This National Biofuels Action Plan supports the drive for biofuels growth to supply energy that is clean and affordable, and always renewable.”

Created by the Biomass Research and Development (R&D) Board in response to President Bush’s plans to change the way America fuels its transportation fleets that he cited in his 2007 “State of the Union” address, the NBAP is a strategic blueprint that DOE Secretary Samuel Bodman said “shows us the way to meet the President’s goal of meaningful biofuels production by the year 2022.”

Bush’s “Twenty In Ten” goal would call for cutting U.S. gasoline consumption by 20 percent over the next 10 years by investing in renewable and alternative fuel sources, increasing vehicle efficiency and developing alternative fuel vehicles.

“And to do it in cost-effective, environmentally-responsible ways that utilize a science-based approach, to ensure the next generation of biofuels that are made primarily from feedstocks outside the food supply that are produced sustainably,” Bodman added.

Last year, Bush introduced the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) and the Food, Conservation and Energy Act (FCEA) of 2008 – two bills that addressed the “Twenty in Ten” challenge with mandatory funding of more than $1 billion for such energy activities as loan guarantees for cellulosic ethanol projects and other renewable energy and energy-efficiency-related programs.

“Two years ago, President Bush challenged America to end its addiction to oil,” Bodman said at the Oct. 7 news conference. “Through his ‘Twenty In Ten’ plan he has asked us to reduce our gasoline use by 20 percent in 10 years. While that sounds like a tall order, the reality is quite different. We can, indeed.”

The NBAP specifically outlines inter-agency actions and accelerated federally supported research efforts in seven areas: sustainability, feedstock production, feedstock logistics, conversion science and technology, distribution infrastructure, blending and environment, health and safety.

“The area that will have the greatest impact will be the testing and approval of intermediate blends of ethanol,” said Rod Williamson, director of research and development for the Iowa Corn Growers Assoc. (ICGA) and the Iowa Corn Promotion Board (ICPB).
“That means approval of blends higher than 10 percent ethanol. The market for ethanol will soon hit a blend wall around 15 billion gallons, when all the fuel in the U.S. contains 10 percent ethanol. Steps to approve higher blends will allow the ethanol market to grow.”

Williamson said Bush’s current energy initiatives would help reduce America’s dependence on high-priced foreign oil.
“This is an aggressive strategy, given the technical and market challenges when introducing a new fuel,” he said. ”However, action is needed because we are more dependent on foreign sources of oil than ever before and that trend is projected to increase.
“The Iowa Corn Growers Assoc. supports efforts by the federal government in developing additional feedstocks to produce ethanol.”

To date, Williamson said several facilities, including POET in Emmetsburg, Iowa, are planning to make ethanol from cellulosic material. “The market for alternative fuels is large enough for corn and other plant-based ethanol,” he said.

Yet, the ICGA/ICPB’s biggest concern, he added, is the federal government’s perception that making ethanol from corn is already a mature technology.

“There are many technical advances that could make improvements for corn ethanol,” he said. “For example, if we made a corn that had better utilization of nitrogen fertilizer, that would be a tremendous breakthrough in reducing the environmental impact, improving the energy balance of making ethanol and the economics of growing corn on the farm.”

The DOE has poured more than $1 billion into research, development and demonstration of cellulosic biofuel technology through 2009. Since 2006, the USDA has invested almost $600 million for the research, development and demonstration of new biofuel technology.

Bodman said the DOE would be investing up to $7 million in five cost-shared advanced biofuel projects seeking to develop technologies to convert non-food feedstocks into stabilized pyrolysis oil – a bio-oil closely resembling a combination of gasoline and diesel fuel that can be used to produce cost-effective greenhouse gas-neutral, renewable fuels in existing petroleum refineries.

The five projects, in partnership with the private sector, are: UOP LLC, a Honeywell company; Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University; Iowa State University; RTI International; and the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

“Biofuels are here to stay,” Williamson said. ”Corn growers will respond to the demand for more grain. Ultimately, our goal is to reduce our dependence on high-priced oil by supplying a domestic renewable fuel for the United States.”

For more, visit www.usda.gov/energy or www.eere.energy.gov