This is the portion of Obama's speech earlier today on America's plan to reduce energy dependence which related to biofuels:
There is only one more Saudi Arabia left to be discovered, and that is the reduction of energy use through conservation. We are wasting enormous amounts of energy, including in the area of agriculture, in this country.
I'll defer to the Environmental Working Group's most recent writings on the subject of politics and biofuels policies:
And, no, cellulosic, switchgrass and biomass are not the answer, either. You can't mandate technology. And try moving those energy denseless masses around, and storing them, without fossil fuels.
K. McDonald
This is from today's White House fact sheet:Another substitute for oil that holds tremendous promise is renewable biofuels – not just ethanol, but biofuels made from things like switchgrass, wood chips, and biomass.
If anyone doubts the potential of these fuels, consider Brazil. Already, more than half – half – of Brazil’s vehicles can run on biofuels. And just last week, our Air Force used an advanced biofuel blend to fly an F-22 Raptor faster than the speed of sound. In fact, the Air Force is aiming to get half of its domestic jet fuel from alternative sources by 2016. And I’m directing the Navy and the Departments of Energy and Agriculture to work with the private sector to create advanced biofuels that can power not just fighter jets, but trucks and commercial airliners.
So there’s no reason we shouldn’t be using these renewable fuels throughout America. That’s why we’re investing in things like fueling stations and research into the next generation of biofuels. Over the next two years, we’ll help entrepreneurs break ground on four next-generation biorefineries – each with a capacity of more than 20 million gallons per year. And going forward, we should look for ways to reform biofuels incentives to make sure they meet today’s challenges and save taxpayers money.
There has been so much written on this subject and I think that "everybody" knows by now why this is a political game spelling lobbying success, not a realistic solution. I'm tired of the subject and won't beat a dead horse today. Isn't everybody? I guess things aren't too serious here, yet, if we are still playing games at the highest level.Expanding biofuels markets and commercializing new biofuels technologies: Corn ethanol is already making a significant contribution to reducing our oil dependence, but increasing market share will require overcoming infrastructure challenges and commercializing promising cellulosic and advanced biofuels technologies. To help achieve this goal, the Administration has set a goal of breaking ground on at least four commercial-scale cellulosic or advanced bio-refineries over the next two years. And as we do all of these things, we will look for ways to reform our biofuels incentives to make sure they meet today’s biofuels challenges and save taxpayers money.
There is only one more Saudi Arabia left to be discovered, and that is the reduction of energy use through conservation. We are wasting enormous amounts of energy, including in the area of agriculture, in this country.
I'll defer to the Environmental Working Group's most recent writings on the subject of politics and biofuels policies:
And, no, cellulosic, switchgrass and biomass are not the answer, either. You can't mandate technology. And try moving those energy denseless masses around, and storing them, without fossil fuels.
K. McDonald