Center for Advanced BioEnergy Research, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Report questions cellulosic ethanol merits

Des Moines Register
By PHILIP BRASHER • pbrasher@dmreg.com • November 14, 2010

Washington, D.C. — A study making its way around the Agriculture Department raises doubts about the prospects for biofuels made from crop residue and other types of plant cellulose and calls for shifting the focus of government research funding.

A USDA advisory committee report suggested putting more money into algae and oil crops, which are alternatives to making ethanol from corn stalks or grasses.

"After two decades of research without a sustainable technical breakthrough to make cellulosic ethanol competitive, it appears that it is time to re-evaluate the research," the report said.

One of the biggest hurdles to commercializing cellulosic ethanol has been the challenge of finding economical and practical ways to harvest, transport and store the massive amounts of biomass that would be needed.

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1 comment:

Nathan Schock said...

I've read the report and it clearly does NOT question the merits of cellulosic ethanol. Instead, it calls for investing more in the research. Check out my blog post here: http://blog.projectliberty.com/2010/11/des-moines-register-gets-report-on-cellulosic-biomass-wrong.html

Or, just read the report for yourself: http://www.ree.usda.gov/nareeeab/reports/062510rec_final_report.pdf