Assessment of Conversion Technologies for Bioalcohol Fuel ...

SECTION 9 - GOVERNMENT ROLES AND INITIATIVES
A number of federal government programs have been initiated to accelerate the
development of domestic, renewable alternatives to gasoline and diesel fuels.
USDOE’s Advanced Energy Initiative was set up to make celulosic ethanol costcompetitive
so that this renewable fuel could potentially displace up to 30% of the
current transportation fuel used in the US. DOE recently announced (DOE, Feb. 28,
2007) an investment of up to $385 million for the demonstration and deployment of six
thermochemical and biochemical conversion technologies in California, Florida,
Georgia, Idaho, Iowa and Kansas. Profiles for the six grant recipients (Abengoa,
ALICO, Blue Fire Ethanol, Broin, Iogen and Range Fuels) are included in Appendix I.
The investment in these six technologies is projected to total more than $1.2 billion
over the next four years. These DOE programs will provide a significant boost to the
advancement of such conversion technologies. The Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency (DARPA) has also appropriated $2.0 Billion for clean and renewable
energy R&D in 2007 and proposed $14.0 Billion for 2008.
On October 13, 2006, the USDA and USDOE announced $17.5 million in grants for 17
research, development and demonstration projects that will help make biobased fuels
cost competitive with fossil fuels in the commercial market.
The State of California is also stepping up its support for bioenergy development. This
includes new CEC research and development programs to help advance the
demonstration and deployment of biomass-to-alcohol and other biofuel production
technologies in the state. Three grants totaling $3 million were awarded in April 2007
by the Commission’s Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) Program for R&D
projects involving thermochemical and biochemical technologies.
In 2006, CA Governor Schwarzenegger issued Executive Order S-06-06 to help
California meet future needs for clean, renewable energy, and calling for actions by
the state to meet targets for in-state production of biofuels and biopower. In response
to this Executive Order, the CEC, in conjunction with the California Biomass
Collaborative at U.C. Davis, has prepared a roadmap for biomass research and
development.
In March of 2006, the Governor asked the Bioenergy Interagency Working Group
(Working Group) to make recommendations for near-term state government actions to
increase the use of biomass resources. The Working Group consists of the CEC and
includes the Air Resources Board (CARB), California Environmental Protection
Agency (Cal/EPA), California Public Utilities Commission, California Resources
Agency, Department of Food and Agriculture, Department of Forestry and Fire
Protection, Department of General Services, Integrated Waste Management Board,
and the State Water Resources Control Board.
The Bioenergy Action Plan (CEC 2006) has the following policy objectives:
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