Push bioenergy development beyond corn

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

The Marshfield News-Herald editorialized in support of initiatives to produce ethanol from cellulose:

A study by University of Minnesota researchers shows that only 12 percent of the nation's motor vehicle fuel could be supplied by corn-based ethanol -- if every kernel in the nation went into its production.

Because corn is a major feed source for beef and other animals, converting it all into fuel would make meat either more costly or less available, or both.

And ethanol adds to greenhouse gases, just as petroleum does.

But as Tom Still, president of the Wisconsin Technology Council, points out, ethanol isn't only from corn anymore.

The Governor's Consortium on Bio-Based Industry urges Wisconsin to be the first state in the nation to build an ethanol plant that uses wood products as its raw product, which Still notes "could be a natural fit for communities in northern Wisconsin."

The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point is developing a biofuels curriculum for its paper science students, and not only could ethanol made from wood fiber be a natural fit for northern Wisconsin, it could be a revenue-producer for papermakers.

Biofuels such as switchgrass and jatropha also show more promise to be energy-efficient than corn-based ethanol.

"It is already clear that large-scale use of ethanol for fuel will almost require cellulosic technology," said Steven Koonin, chief scientist for BP, the energy company whose gasoline is sold by Baltus Oil Co. stations in the Marshfield.

Cellulosic isn't an everyday word. Cellulosic biomass includes cellulose and hemicellulose, which make up about two-thirds of the dry mass. Most of the rest is lignin.

While converting grains to ethanol requires the use of petroleum, lignin -- a renewable resource and byproduct of the production process -- fuels the conversion in cellulosic technology.

The greenhouse gases produced by burning lignin are offset by the carbon dioxide absorbed as the tree or other switchgrass grows. One model shows an 80 percent reduction in greenhouse gases with the use of cellulosic ethanol compared to gasoline.

Production of ethanol from corn is a short-term answer to alternative fuels, because the plants can be built quickly to convert sugars to alcohol through fermentation. In a brewery state like Wisconsin, that's old technology.

Cellulosic technology is developing, so it's not ready to replace corn-based ethanol yet.

But pooh-poohing ethanol in the face of evidence that it's not the fuel, it's the source of the ethanol, that leads to greenhouse gas concerns and net-energy problems doesn't get us any farther down the road toward a more independent future.

The largest problem is that the "world's scientific and engineering skills have not yet been focused coherently on the challenges involved," BP's Koonin said, adding, "It is now time to do that through a coordination of government, university and industrial R&D efforts, facilitated by responsible public policies."

By 2025, one-fourth of the state's transportation fuels should be alternatives to petroleum, the Governor's Consortium on Bio-Based Industry recommends.

It'll take government/university/industry collaborations to develop the technology, as the BP scientist suggests. Setting an aggressive goal, as the consortium has done, is one of a series of responsible public policies required to achieve real progress.

Wisconsin is an ideal place to make that happen.