There is a current shortfall in cellulosic biofuel production relative to the targets established by the Renewable Fuel Standard. Advanced Ethanol Council Executive Director Brooke Coleman points out that – in a very difficult financial and policy environment, the first wave of commercial advanced ethanol production facilities are under construction in a number of states across the country. “Diversifying America’s fuel supply requires us to keep our eyes on the prize and not be distracted by the noise and misdirection coming from naysayers protecting the status quo.”
Coleman says, “We must not let the crocodile tears of a few multi-national oil companies become a Trojan horse for second guessing ourselves on the RFS. The progress of cellulosic ethanol industry has been slower than anyone in the industry would like due to a number of factors outside of their control, but it is simply false to suggest that the technology is not working and the industry is not emerging.”
Today, commercial scale facilities are being built and production is on the way to meet the adjusted requirement in 2012. Coleman says – as crucial chokepoints of world oil supplies are being threatened, America cannot afford to back track on an RFS program that has already dramatically reduced foreign oil dependence and remains a linchpin for local bio-economies all over the country.
Source: NAFB News Service