As Katie Howell points out in her story for the New York Times’Greewire, algae-based biofuels have gotten a lot of attention this summer. Both Exxon Mobil Corp. and Dow Chemical Co. announced major investments in the technology, and there is a proposal in Congress that would provide incentives like tax credits to encourage more investment and development of this technology. Many of the incentives enjoy bipartisan support.
The ethanol industry has noticed, and as Mark Stowers, vice president of research and development at Poet LLC, which is the nation’s largest ethanol producer, wants people remember, ‘“The thing to bear in mind is that ethanol is here today, it’s a proven fuel . . . It’s been used in cars for going on 29-plus, 30-plus years . . .”’
However, corn-based ethanol certainly has its detractors. Opponents of the biofuel source cite that corn-base ethanol takes up land that could be used for food production, it drives up food prices, it increases feed prices for livestock producers, and it requires “high water usage.” These issues are part of the reason why the industry is investing in developing cellulosic ethanol as fibrous material from plants grown on marginal lands can be used as the source for the fuel. Current law mandates that 16 billion gallons of cellulosic biofuels are produced each year by 2022. The same legislation caps corn ethanol production at 15 billion gallons per year.
Still Exxon Mobil and other investors see the most promise on the algae-based biofuel side of the equation, in part because of the potential ability to produce fuel from algae on a commercial scale. This debate is sure to continue in Congress in the coming months as alternative energy legislation is being considered.
To read the Howell article click here.
To read previous US Agricultural and Food Law and Policy Blog posts on algae-based biofuels click here.
Posted: 08/21/09
