AUBURN , AL – As part of an effort to promote President Bush’s advanced energy initiatives, Department of Energy (DOE) Acting Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Douglas L. Faulkner highlighted the president’s Biofuels Initiative, particularly regarding cellulosic ethanol, today.  President Bush’s Biofuels Initiative is a major component of his Advanced Energy Initiative which seeks to reduce America’s dependence on foreign sources of oil by replacing more than 75% of oil imports by 2025.

 

“We are on the threshold of incredible advances in biomass technology,” said Faulkner. “Bold research into cellulosic ethanol as well as hybrids and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles will help reduce our reliance on foreign oil”

 

President Bush has requested $150 million for the Biofuels Initiative in his FY 2007 budget, a $59 million (60%) increase from FY 2006; this includes biofuels research and development.  The Biofuels Initiative will lead to the use of non-food based biomass, such as agricultural waste, trees, forest residues, and perennial grasses in the production of transportation fuels, electricity, and other products.  One of the goals of this initiative is to accelerate research and make cellulosic ethanol cost-competitive by 2012, offering the potential to displace up to 30 percent of our nation’s current fuel use by 2030. 

 

Acting Assistant Secretary Faulkner gave remarks at the Biomass and Switchgrass Conference at Alabama’s Auburn University.  Other speakers included Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions, who discussed foreign energy dependence and national security; Auburn University professor David Bransby, who discussed the technical feasibility of producing 30 percent of U.S. transportation fuels from agricultural and forestry products; and Hoover Mayor Tony Petelos, who discussed ethanol and biodiesel markets in the Southeast and in his city’s police fleet, the largest in the nation powered by E-85 (a mixture of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline).

 

During today’s event, Acting Assistant Secretary Faulkner also discussed the importance of two key energy-related initiatives announced by President Bush in his State of the Union address.  President Bush’s Advanced Energy Initiative requests $2.1 billion, a 22 percent budget increase, to develop new technologies and alternative sources of energy to help diversify and strengthen our nation’s energy mix.  The American Competitiveness Initiative is a multi-agency commitment that will ensure America remains competitive in the global marketplace.  As part of this initiative, funding for science research will double to nearly $19.5 billion in 2016 at DOE’s Office of Science, the National Science Foundation, and the Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology.  The funding increase will begin in FY 2007 with the three offices receiving a total of $10.66 billion, an increase of 9.3% over FY 2006.

 

As part of the Bush Administration's broader effort to promote production and use of alternative and renewable sources of energy, Administration officials are traveling the country to promote President Bush's energy initiatives.  Energy Secretary Bodman will make a total of four stops around the country this week, promoting the Advanced Energy and American Competitiveness Initiatives, in addition to highlighting a number of energy efficiency programs, notably biomass (including cellulosic ethanol) and hydrogen.  Yesterday, Secretary Bodman met with students and teachers at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Newport News, Virginia, to discuss the importance of science and math education.  Also yesterday, Secretary Bodman toured the Archer Daniels Midland Ethanol plant in Decatur, Illinois, and announced a $160 million solicitation for biorefinery construction.  Earlier this afternoon, Secretary Bodman toured GT Solar in Merrimack, New Hampshire to promote the Solar America Initiative, a component of the Advanced Energy Initiative.  Later today, Secretary Bodman will visit General Motors Fuel Cell Activities in western New York to discuss the Advanced Energy Initiative and hydrogen technology. 

 

Also this week, DOE Assistant Secretary Karen Harbert will visit Steelcase Wood Plant in Grand Rapids, and provide remarks at the Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center, in Muskegon, Michigan; Assistant Secretary Jeff Jarrett will visit the National Energy Technology Laboratory in Morgantown, West Virginia; and Assistant Secretary John Shaw visited Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico and delivered remarks.

 

For more information, visit energy.gov.