US invests $375 mln in bioenergy research
The US Energy Department will invest up to $375 million in three new research centers that will develop cellulosic ethanol and other biofuels that will help reduce America’s gasoline demand.
ethanol produced from cheaper agricultural and forest wastes cost-competitive
with traditional corn-based ethanol and cut US gasoline consumption by 20% over
the next decade.
More efficient methods
A major focus
of the centers will be to find new, more efficient methods for converting the
cellulose in plant material into ethanol or other biofuels that serve as a
substitute for gasoline.
“This research is critical because future biofuels
production will require the use of feedstocks more diverse than corn, including
cellulosic material like agricultural residues, grasses, poplar trees, inedible
plants, and non-edible portions of crops,” the Energy Department
said.
The three bioenergy research centers, which are expected to begin
their work in 2008, will be located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Madison, Wisconsin
and near Berkeley, California.
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