Jam-packed year of Bioenergy Industry Growth

BioCycle January 2008, Vol. 49, No. 1, p. 44

BIOMASS ENERGY OUTLOOK

Mark Jenner

THIS LAST YEAR was a mighty big year of economic growth in generating energy from biomass. First-generation commercial-scale projects began generating bio-BTUs like: E3 Biofuels' ethanol/feedlot, Fibrominn's 55 MW manure-fueled power plant and Microgy's manure to natural gas facility. Then, in December, E3 Biofuels filed for bankruptcy.
Last year began with seemingly every Midwest rural community announcing a corn-based ethanol plant. By fall, the bottom fell out of the ethanol and biodiesel expansion. It went from one extreme to the other.
Communities both loved and feared these projects, creating tax incentives, filing lawsuits against projects, or both. Public opposition transitioned from thermodynamic inefficiency to insufficient water supplies and then settled on the food vs. fuel debate. Grain farmers cheered the $4/bushel price of corn. The livestock industry became antibiofuels.
The year ended with apprehension about the future of biofuels, but this is not the end of the story. Economic growth is measured in decades - not in weeks or months. We are just getting started.

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