Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Table
.
EISA biofuel requirements through
(billions of gallons)
Year
Corn-based
Cellulosic
Biodiesel
Other
Success would mean a huge increase in material that
could be turned into ethanol or even used directly for
energy production like bagasse in Brazil. Development of
cellulosic technology is being supported by private indus-
try as well as by the government. Pilot plants are being
built to test process and costs at commercial scale. A joint
study by the US Department of Energy and Department
of Agriculture calculated that more than a billion tons of
dry plant material per year would be available in the
United States [
].
EISA greatly increases the requirement for renewable
fuels for transportation in the United States. Require-
ments through the year
are shown in
Table
.
(data are from [
]).
A leveling off of the corn-based component and a large
ramp up in the cellulosic and advanced components were
required. Two new cellulosic production plants are sched-
uled to start operation in
mil-
lion gallons of ethanol each. We shall see if they work out
as the builders hope.
The law also requires that for biofuel plants placed in
service after
, producing roughly
, emissions have to be
% below those
from gasoline for corn,
% below for cellulosic, and
% below for biodiesel and other. Agribusiness liked it
