The EIA also stated that America’s ethanol industry would not meet the cellulosic requirement of the RFS by 2022.

In a statement, the Renewable Fuels Association said the EIA, by its nature, is confined to analyzing the situation at present and can’t take into account the speed with which America’s ethanol industry is innovating. “The renewable fuels standard is an ambitious target and one America’s ethanol industry is more than capable of meeting,” said Bob Dinneen, president of the Renewable Fuels Association. “The investments being made and research being conducted at the private and public sector level will ensure this industry rises to meet this challenge.”

The EIA does project steady, strong growth in renewable energy use through 2030, indicating a 3.3 percent annual growth rate – a reflection of the aggressive renewable fuels standard passed in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, as well as the effectiveness of state renewable portfolio standards driving renewable power generation.

“A sharp increase in the sale of unconventional vehicle technologies, such as flex-fuel, hybrid, and diesel vehicles, and a significant decline in the new light-truck share of total light-duty vehicle sales are projected,” EIA stated. “Hybrid vehicle sales (all varieties) increased from two percent of new light-duty vehicle sales in 2007 to 38 percent in 2030. Sales of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) will grow to 90,000 vehicles annually by 2014, supported by recently enacted tax credits. By 2030, PHEVs account for two percent of new light vehicle sales.”

An increased availability of domestic natural gas resources from unconventional onshore sources, the Outer Continental Shelf, and Alaska has led EIA to project that the net import share of total natural gas use will decline from 16 percent in 2007 to less than three percent in 2030.

“There are more than 30 existing and planned cellulosic biorefineries set to begin production of advanced biofuels in the next few years. Many other projects and promising technologies are on the drawing board. These pioneer cellulosic biofuel facilities will prove that the technology works and that the industry can meet the goals established in the Renewable Fuel Standard. With oil prices set to rise again, per the projections, the need for domestically produced advanced biofuels should remain a priority for U.S. policymakers and consumers.”

A map of these cellulosic biofuel facilities is available on the web at http://biofuelsandclimate.wordpress.com/about/.

The Advanced Biofuels & Climate Change Information Center presents the latest commentary and data on the environmental, greenhouse gas and other impacts of biofuel production. Drop in and add your comments, at http://biofuelsandclimate.wordpress.com/.

BIO represents more than 1,200 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations across the United States and in more than 30 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of innovative healthcare, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology products. BIO also produces the BIO International Convention, the world’s largest gathering of the biotechnology industry, along with industry-leading investor and partnering meetings held around the world.

Ensus is building the £250 million plant at the Wilton International industrial park, which used to be home to chemicals giant ICI.

The plant is expected to produce around 400 million litres of bioethanol a year from wheat, through a fermentation process. The facility will also produce around 350,000 tonnes of protein-rich residues that are to be turned into animal feed.

It will need about 1.2 million tonnes of wheat each year, which is being sourced by commodities firm Glencore.

Middlesbrough-based Ensus said the new EU Renewable Energy Directive agreed in Brussels last week was "very positive news", with the targets set by the Directive for 2020 offering a "stable framework for investment over the next decade".

The Directive sets targets for 2020 including a 20% renewable energy target for Europe as a whole, 15% for Britain specifically, and also for 10% of transport energy to come from renewable sources.

Alwyn Hughes, chief executive of Ensus, said: "This is essential for companies like ours, who are investing in what is a vital new industry to combat climate change and improve Europe's energy security. This stability is vital to maintain the hundreds of jobs our investment will be supporting in the North East of England."

Sustainability criteria

Along with the headline targets, the new Directive sets certain criteria for biofuels to count towards the 10% transport fuels target.

This includes stipulations that biofuels must save at least 35% of greenhouse gas emissions compared to fossil fuels, and from 2017 this requirement jumps to 50%, with a 60% requirement for new installations.

The EU Commission is to develop ways to measure greenhouse gas emissions caused by indirect changes in land use, for example where biofuel crops replace food crops or where cultivation encroaches on uncultivated land.

Other aspects of the new 10% renewable transport fuels target will see second generation biofuels - those produced from wastes, residues or non-food crops - counting double towards the target, as will electric cars.

Mr Hughes said the new mandatory biofuels sustainability criteria would help to "sharpen the distinction" between good and bad biofuels, and "will drive the biofuels sector in the right direction for the long term".

Commenting on his own company's plant, he said: "Thanks to our usage of European wheat and our energy-efficient process we will substantially exceed the sustainability criteria that have been set and make a real contribution to reducing carbon emissions. In fact the bioethanol we supply will generate carbon savings equivalent to taking over 300,000 cars off UK roads."

The Ensus chief executive added that the animal feed produced by the new plant would have a beneficial indirect effect on land use abroad by replacing imports of soy often grown in deforested areas.

Another component of the program will promote commercial forest plantations for the generation of biogas and bioethanol. Mexico and Italy will promote technical and scientific cooperation for the prevention of forest degradation and sustainable forestry and exchange experiences on bioenergy generation to promote sustainable development.

Currently, Asia Bioenergy, via its subsidiary Asia Bioenergy Research Sdn Bhd, owns 25% of the paid-up capital of Eco-Sponge.

The proposed acquisition would allow Asia Bioenergy to have full control over the Eco-Sponge and reap the benefits of all future sales of the Eco-Sponge filtration compound. - Bernama

Energy issues didn't go anywhere, though, and Obama's likely nominee for secretary of energy, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Chu, will have his hands full if he takes the job. Dealing with America's energy problems involves more than just lowering gas prices. If confirmed, expect Chu, who's also director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, to turn DOE into a hotbed for new energy ideas. Here's a look at the five big energy topics he and Obama will have to face:

What to Do With Biofuels

Biofuels are now competing with $2-a-gallon gas. President and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association Bob Dineen notes that in the 1980s a promising ethanol industry "collapsed with the collapse of oil prices." Chu will have to find a way to renew the public's (and investors') interest in biofuels.

It'll be difficult. "Everyone rallies behind the need for bio-fuels when oil is at $140 a barrel," says Eric Burgeson, vice president of BGR Holding LLC and former chief of staff at DOE. After food prices soared over the summer, blamed in large part on ethanol, expect Obama to rethink how he'll approach biofuels policies.

Funding Nuclear Energy and Clean Coal Energy

Thanks to deficits and bailouts, Chu might not have nearly the wallet the Department of Energy might have hoped for this summer. Burgeson says that deciding whether to put more money into nuclear energy or clean coal technology will be a big decision for the new administration

The U.S. has coal galore. West Virginia, Texas and Wyoming are the biggest producers of coal in their respective regions. Right now, coal energy is responsible for about 50% of all electricity in the U.S. If there was a way to clean it up (through plans to sequester the emissions underground) rather than shut it down, the coal states and the atmosphere would be grateful.

Nuclear energy is another option. The Energy Information Administration reports show 24 proposed new nuclear plants, right now. Obama has said that he's not opposed to nuclear expansion, but safety precautions and guidelines for nuclear waste management need to be outlined first.

Money will dictate how serious the administration can get about clean coal and nuclear. For the 2009 budget, DOE has requested 3.3% less than its 2008 request for nuclear energy. However, Obama's budget request and an expected stimulus plan could change that.

Climate Change

Creating policies that address climate change has been on the Secretary of Energy's radar for nearly a decade. A large theme in Obama's campaign, it's unlikely to be ignored. But don't expect cap-and-trade legislation in 2009--it's too expensive at a time when the economy is suffering.

Nonetheless, it looks like emissions-reduction advocates may now have a friend in the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Now that Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) is in charge (wrestling control away from John Dingell, D-Mich., who was seen as more resistant to environmental reforms), sweeping environmental legislation could soon follow. With Waxman in the driver's seat, if a cap-and-trade program for carbon emissions does take off sometime in the next four years, it could become the DOE's biggest program.

Jobs

Obama is dedicated to creating more green jobs for Americans--it's a central plank of his recovery plan--by investing billions into renewable energy, which is "much more labor intensive," says Carol Warner, executive director at the Environmental and Energy Study Institute.

To fulfill this promise, U.S. energy regulators would need to overhaul the country's electric grid in order to get wind and solar power to the cities where it's needed. But wind and solar are used to generate electricity, and do little to offset demand for oil. That's where plug-in hybrids come in (maybe produced in newly vigorous GM factories, if the auto industry does indeed restructure as it has promised). With plug-ins, cars are fueled from an outlet instead of a gas pump, diverting all that old oil money to green-energy jobs at the car companies and at clean-tech electricity generators.

Domestic Production

Khary Cauthen, of the American Petroleum Institute, says the next secretary of energy should focus on finding new domestic areas that have access to oil and natural gas--even if Congress lifted the ban on offshore drilling in October.

"The timing is just right that a new secretary of energy could come in and affirm and underscore the importance of access to domestic resources," Cauthen said. But low oil prices give the administration a reason to say new domestic production is no longer an urgent priority.

Where might these new domestic supplies of oil and natural gas come from? Right now, Appalachia is looking pretty good for natural gas. Geologists estimate that Marcellus Shale, extending through parts of New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio, could supply the U.S. with enough natural gas to last at least 14 years.

Also promising are the Barnett Shale formation in Texas and the Fayetteville Shale in Arkansas. Obama's energy plan mentions the Bakken Shale area in Montana and North Dakota as potentially 4 billion recoverable barrels of oil. Bonus: All that drilling would create some jobs too.

But sugarcane, which needs a long, warm growing season, remains little more than a tropical daydream for Midwestern farmers.

Now, though, biofuel boosters have something to talk about — “Sugarcorn.”

It’s being developed by Targeted Growth Inc., a Seattle biotechnology company that two years ago was searching for a crop that could be adapted to produce sugar in a way similar to sugarcane but able to grow in the Great Plains.

“One thing that jumped out was an opportunity to use corn,” said Donald Panter, senior vice president for crop development at the company.

Targeted Growth’s laboratory breakthroughs are being grown in test plots in Illinois and Indiana. More tests next year will be in other Midwestern states — possibly including Kansas and Missouri.

Corn has similarities to sugarcane, such as its sword-shaped leaves. Indeed, Sugarcorn is a takeoff on a type of maize grown in the tropics, which grows traditional ears of corn.

Researchers found that when the tropical corn has a longer growing day, such as those in the Midwest, it delays its flowering and sends more energy into making sugar in the stalk instead of producing starch in the corn.

Sugarcorn improves the process with genetic surgery.

The result? A corn field that doesn’t produce a single kernel and shoots corn stalks 15 feet high — about twice that of traditional corn.

Just like sugarcane, the sugar in Sugarcorn is easily squeezed out to use for ethanol.

Proponents said Sugarcorn could be a game-changer for the fledgling Corn Belt biofuels industry.

Why? Because it could double energy output per acre and reduce the energy needed to process the crop to fuel. That’s because the crop’s sugar skips the step where corn’s starch has to be converted into sugar before being fermented and turned into ethanol. If successful, Sugarcorn would make it easier to undercut the cost of conventional gasoline, which is important because ethanol has less energy per gallon than gasoline.

Sugarcorn’s potential will become clearer when it becomes commercially available, which Targeted Growth estimates will be another two years.

To be sure, more work remains to be done.

Much of that work will focus on increasing sugar yield. Also, field testing is measuring hardiness in Midwest weather conditions. Tests in Indiana and Illinois have been encouraging, prompting ethanol producers to express interest in the feedstock.

Such talks come at a crucial time for the ethanol industry, which recently saw a major producer file for bankruptcy.

VeraSun Energy Corp.’s stumble was triggered by corn prices, which briefly topped $8 a bushel in futures trading last summer. It then made a bad bet on locking in those higher prices, fearing that they would rise even more. Corn prices have fallen by roughly half since the summertime peak.

The broader industry’s troubles deepened recently when crumbling crude oil prices pushed conventional gas prices lower than ethanol for the first time in nearly two years, cutting deeply into ethanol demand.

The global credit crunch also has cast a shadow, prompting many ethanol projects to be canceled