Economically consequential proposals in the energy bill now pending before a US House of Representatives–Senate conference committee are brightening short-term prospects for several biologically derived liquid fuels, or biofuels, and could also improve mid-term prospects for plastics and other economically valuable materials derived from similar renewable sources. Despite persistent skepticism among critics, some scientists insist that the energy yields from crops used to produce liquid fuels are positive, noting that these processes could bring dividends to biotechnology and reduce US oil imports which, in turn, could yield important political and economic benefits.
Notwithstanding cultivation, harvesting, and processing costs, producing ethanol from corn crops nets energy in a liquid, readily transported form, according to chemical engineer Bruce Dale of Michigan State University (MSU; East Lansing, MI), who spoke during a congressional briefing sponsored by the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI; Washington, DC) at the end of July. And the energy produced from corn grains represents a smaller potential compared with what eventually can be derived from “cellulosic” (major structural but ordinarily discarded components of) corn and other plants, some of which may be grown on marginal lands not well suited for food crops, he says.
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