The Pres Calls for Biofuels

This is very good news indeed. Part of President Bush’s State of the Union Address delivered on January 23rd was dedicated to broadening the United States’ use of alternative fuels—biofuels in particular. Included in the address was a proposal for the United States to use 35 billion gallons of renewable and alternative fuels by the year 2017. This new Alternative Fuel Standard sets a goal that exceeds the current Renewable Fuel Standard (the use of 7.5 billion gallons of renewable fuels by 2012) by a factor of five.

This new standard can be attained by the use of a wide variety of fuels—including corn ethanol, cellulosic ethanol (alcohol derived from biomass), biodiesel, methanol and hydrogen—and is charged with displacing approximately 15 percent of the United States’ projected gasoline use in 2017. Part of the President’s Twenty in Ten initiative, this fuel requirement is expected to cut U.S. gasoline usage by 20 percent over the next 10 years. This includes an additional piece of the plan that calls for an increase in fuel efficiency requirements for new cars that will yield another 5 percent gasoline savings.

Other features of the President's plans include greater use of wind and solar energy, broader usage of clean diesel vehicles, and more aggressive research and development of battery technology for plug-in hybrids. The President stated to members of Congress that “these technologies will help us be better stewards of the environment, and they will help us to confront the serious challenge of global climate change."