----- Original Message -----
From: "Jed Rothwell"
What about the USDA and DOE ?
What about them? They say the same thing Pimentel and everyone
else says, when the gag is removed and they are allowed to tell
the truth.
Absurd disinformation! Here is what they actually say:
The DOE and USDA did a study in last year known as the "Billion
Ton Study," which indicates that there is enough underutilized
agricultural and forestland resources in the USA to sustainably
harvest 1.3 billion tons of biomass annually without impacting
food supplies. This does not count ocean resources for algae which
are potential greater than 2 billion tons from the Gulf of Mexico
alone.
This land resource would be enough feedstock to produce at least
60 billion gallons of ethanol, possibly more with bio-engineered
species instead of corn. There is enough waste heat from utilities
to distill it all with no added burden to them and zero added
fossil fuel. This is even without the new non-distillation
methods.
When implemented fully - this will be roughly 30% of yearly motor
gasoline used (based on consumption in the SUV era). All it takes
is a national commitment to "just do it" and stop quibbling over
artificial barriers and Pimento-cheesey arguments.
In fact, today's pace of new biofuels capacity, even without the
needed high-level help, far exceeds former EPA mandates and will
get us there in about 12 years if the recent pace continues
unabated. In 2000, only 1.6 billion gallons of ethanol (mostly
corn) was produced in the U.S. By 2005 this had grown to 4
billion, but then the price of oil continued to go through the
roof. Almost immediately - in one year - a 20% jump in production
will have occurred from 2005 to 2006. This year, more than 5
billion gallons will be produced (we may already have passed
that).
Sadly this 5 billion gallons is unnecessarily using mostly corn as
feedstock. Corn prices have risen, but not all that much and we
should at least be also using the corn stalk cellulose as
feedstock. But the organisms to digest cellulose are newly
developed, and it will take a year or two to implement this
doubling of feedstock per acre.
Over 100 corn ethanol plants are running in 20 states, with 42 new
ones and 7 expansions under construction. That will provide a year
to year increase of 50% for 2007. Once this capacity is completed
in the Spring of next year, ethanol output in the United States
will be at least 7.7 billion gallons yearly, but even that could
mushroom once ocean algae harvesting is encouraged - and it is
still much lower than the 60 billion which DOE says is
sustainable.
It would be helpful if commentators on this thread would actually
read what the experts are saying TODAY - instead of relying on
erroneous outdated material which has been debunked time and again
and is simply no longer valid. Private investors do not build 150
ethanol plants if there is a negative energy balance despite what
self-apponted "experts" say.
The goal of hirty percent of oil being replaced by biofuel by 2020
or earlier is fine - but if we combine that with mandatory
hybrids, instead of SUVs, then it could easily amount to a 40-50%
shift of supply to renewable domestic sources, which is about what
our imports from the Middle East are today.
This is doable, folks. And -- of all observers and activists who
follow these trends - the "alternative energy" crowd on vortex
should be encouraging this ongoing development, not nay-saying and
playing into OPEC's & big-oil's hand.
Jones
