Print“If an F-22 Raptor can fly at the speed of—faster than the speed of sound on biomass, then I know the old beater that you’ve got, that you’re driving around in, can probably do so too.”
Against a backdrop of Middle East turmoil, nuclear meltdown in Japan, and rising oil prices, President Barack Obama outlined his plan for America’s energy security in a speech to students at Georgetown University. His goal, he says, is to reduce oil imports by one third from the 11 million barrels of imported oil a day when he was elected in 2008, within the next decade.
He also pledged renewed support for biofuels as an important part of achieving his goal as part of the government’s comprehensive national energy policy, “Blueprint for a Secure Energy Future.”
While Obama recognizes America’s need to continue to tap its oil reserves, albeit with safety in mind, the main focus of his plan is on developing new sources of energy including natural gas, wind, solar, and biofuels.
“Another substitute for oil that holds tremendous promise is renewable biofuels—not just ethanol, but biofuels made from things like switchgrass and wood chips and biomass,” Obama said.
He pointed to Brazil as an example of the potential of biofuels, noting that he had just returned from a state visit there that had focused on establishing a cooperative agreement on energy needs of both countries. Half of the nation’s of automobiles can run on biofuels instead of petroleum, he noted.
He also commented on a recent test flight by the U.S. Air Force using an advanced biofuel blend. “If an F-22 Raptor can fly at the speed of—faster than the speed of sound on biomass, then I know the old beater that you’ve got, that you’re driving around in, can probably do so too.”
The U.S. military has been a strong advocate of renewable fuels with the Air Force working at getting half its domestic jet fuel from alternative sources by 2016 and the Navy working toward getting 50 percent of its energy from alternative sources by 2020.
Obama’s blueprint for energy security identifies expanding biofuels markets and commercializing new biofuels technologies as a key goal. Obama said the government would “help entrepreneurs break ground for four next-generation biorefineries—each with a capacity of more than 20 million gallons per year. He also pledged to look for ways to reform biofuels incentives to “make sure that they’re meeting today’s challenges and that they’re also saving taxpayers money.”
Obama’s comments were interesting in light of the current congressional scrutiny of ethanol tax incentives, with Republicans looking to end them.
In a telephone interview with Radio Iowa, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said it doesn’t mean an immediate end to tax breaks for ethanol and biodiesel, but that “we need to develop a glide path.” Vilsack noted that at the same time as tax breaks for ethanol and soy-based biodiesel are phase out, the government will invest in distribution infrastructure such as pipelines and blender pumps to make biofuels “more convenient for consumers.”
While government funding will continue to be important, Obama advocated for a clean energy standard to drive private investment in innovation. “What it does is it gives cutting-edge companies the certainty that they need to invest,” he said. He added it also lets companies know that they will have a customer for their clean energy products.
March 31, 2011
http://www.burrillreport.com/article-obama_outlines_u_s_energy_security_plan.html
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