The National Academies Summit on America's Energy Future Summary of a Meeting (2008) / Chapter Skim
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7 Biofuels
7 Biofuels
Pages 49-58
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From page 49... ...
Yet ethanol, when produced from food crops such as corn, also has serious drawbacks as an energy source, which requires that a careful assessment be made of the potential of biofuels to contribute to future energy supplies. ETHANOL PRODUCTION IN THE UNITED STATES AND BRAZIL The United States and Brazil are the main producers of ethanol in the world.
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From page 50... ...
"That's not an extrapolation," Goldemberg said, "it's a calculation based on the number of [ethanol] plants that have been licensed and are under construction." In the United States, the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act places an upper limit on corn-based ethanol of 56.8 billion liters per year by 2022, which is approximately a tripling from current levels.
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From page 51... ...
These mandates were "absolutely essential," Goldemberg said, "because as soon as you had a mandate the private sector had a sure market and a stimulus to develop the technologies." In addition, the government encouraged car manufacturers, which at that point were foreign, to produce cars that would operate on 100 percent ethanol. That created a problem, because with any agricultural product shortages and surpluses can develop.
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From page 52... ...
In the United States, corn yields also rose from 1975 to 2005 (Figure 7.5)
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From page 53... ...
Ethanol prices in Brazil Rotterdam regular gasoline price Brazil regular gasoline price Figure 7-3.eps FIGURE 7.3 The price of ethanol has dropped steadily compared with the price of gasoline on the international market and in Brazil. SOURCE: José Goldemberg, State of São Paulo, Brazil, "Biofuels: How Much, How Fast, and How Difficult?
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From page 54... ...
SOURCE: José Goldemberg, State of São Paulo, Brazil, "Biofuels: How Much, How Fast, and How Difficult? ," presentation at the Summit on America's Energy Future, March 13, 2008; based on Datagro calculations in The Brazilian Sugar Cane Agroindustrial ComplexAnalysis of Status and Opportunities, an unpublished study prepared by the Brazilian Reference Center on Biomass, 2007.
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From page 55... ...
Three proposals were funded at a level of $10 million in 2007, with $25 million slated for the centers over the next 5 years. The Joint BioEnergy Institute led by Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory with five partnering institutes is using model organisms to search for breakthroughs in basic science and is exploring the microbial-based synthesis of fuels beyond
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From page 56... ...
, and the environmental and socioeconomic implications of moving to a biofuels economy. The BioEnergy Science Center led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory with nine partners is focusing on the decomposition of plant fiber and on the potential energy crops switchgrass and poplars.
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From page 57... ...
policymakers to consider supporting the production and export of ethanol from the Caribbean, where the United States has a strong presence. "You might say, ‘We'll be changing dependence on the Middle East for another dependence, on the Caribbean.' Well, the Middle East and the Caribbean are very different places." At the height of the Roman Empire, the Roman legions refused to fight if they were not supplied with 1 kilogram of bread per day.
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From page 58... ...
Goldemberg optimistically concluded, "If the Roman Empire imported wheat to meet the needs of the Romans, I don't see why this is not considered a viable strategy for the United States."
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