Great Lakes Echo (http://greatlakesecho.org/tag/biomass/page/2/)
(MI) The Detroit News – Ethanol has been discredited as the answer to America’s energy needs everywhere except in Washington. Congress is stubbornly sticking by the bankrupt theory that mandating more ethanol use will lessen the nation’s dependence on oil. More
(MI) The Mining Journal – In the near future, Upper Peninsula residents may see rows of willows planted across about 50,000 acres of the region. The fast-growing trees will be planted to feed four U.P. biomass power plants, including ones in L’Anse, White Pine, K.I. Sawyer and Escanaba. More
(NY) The New York Times – For decades, the big oil companies and the farm lobby have been fighting about ethanol, with the farmers pushing to produce more of it and the refiners arguing it was a boondoggle that would do little to solve the country’s energy problems.
The erstwhile enemies, it turns out, are gradually learning to get along, as refiners increasingly see a need to get involved in ethanol production. Ethanol, made chiefly from corn, now represents about 9 percent of the country’s market for liquid fuels. And the percentage is growing year after year because of federal mandates. With the nation’s thirst for gasoline, and the ethanol that is blended into it, expected to revive when the economy does, the oil companies want to be in a position to take full advantage. More
(MN) Duluth News Tribune – In 2005, a coalition of Midwestern corn growers, giant agribusinesses, environmental groups and politicians anxious to assuage public concern over dependence on foreign oil joined together to mandate the addition of ever increasing amounts of ethanol to our gasoline. This was never a good idea, but we now know it is even worse than we imagined as we’ve learned more about its impact on our environment, our transportation infrastructure and our economy. More
By Joe Vaillancourt
LANSING — Twenty years from now, petroleum gasoline may be obsolete. As you pump bio-diesel fuel into your brand-new Ford-GM roadster, you probably won’t think about where the fuel came from. That’s all right — because Michigan government and business are already thinking about bio-diesel fuel, one aspect of green chemistry. Green chemistry could bring vast economic benefits to Michigan while reducing waste and harmful exposure and developing better materials in everyday products, experts say. Green chemistry, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is the design of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate hazardous substances.