A Step Toward The Energy Future

3 cities will be biofuel research hubs The Department of Energy will spend $375 million on three biofuel research hubs, in Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Madison, Wisconsin; and Berkeley, California. A big push will be on developing viable techniques for creating cellulosic ethanol. Unlike corn-based ethanol, cellulosic ethanol has the potential to produce a more energy-rich fuel with less pollution. It can be made with a variety of plants, including some now considered weeds or waste. That's important when you consider how much food prices and pollution have jumped since government tax incentives spurred many corn farmers to grow more corn for fuel. “These Centers will provide the transformational science needed for bioenergy breakthroughs to advance President Bush''s goal of making cellulosic ethanol cost-competitive with gasoline by 2012, and assist in reducing America''s gasoline consumption by 20 percent in ten years,” DOE Secretary Bodman said. For more details, read this DOE press release. Related Stories Tequila Is Latest Victim Of Corn Ethanol Boom Is Ethanol Behind High Food Prices? U.S. Biofuel Tax Credit Benefits European Drivers CSI: Gulf Dead Zone Beer vs. Biofuels Fertilizer Firms Are Flush. Thanks Ethanol Grains Of Truth About Ethanol Ethanol Drives Up Food Costs Alternative Fuel -- With More Pollution?