Earth Equity News

California Institute Seeks to Make Cellulosic Biofuels Viable Alternative within 5 Years. By Madolyn Rogers, Mongabay, June 2, 2008. "A new institute in the San Francisco Bay Area is seeking to make cellulosic biofuel an economically viable alternative to corn ethanol and gasoline within the next five years. The Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI), a partnership between three national laboratories and three Bay Area universities, was formed in June 2007 after the U.S. Department of Energy awarded the institute a $125 million grant to develop better methods for making liquid biofuels from the natural cellulose in trees and grasses. JBEI researchers expect cellulosic biofuels to yield more energy, produce less greenhouse gases, and have less impact on the environment than other alternatives to gasoline, such as corn ethanol. The primary need for such fuels is in the transportation industry, institute scientists believe. 'You can't fly planes on photovoltaic panels,' said Harvey Blanch... [of] JBEI. 'You've got to have high energy content liquid fuels. There's just some applications where there's no alternative.'"