The roadmap cites sources of existing or planned biofuels capacity. For example, EPA's analysis projects that 15 billion gallons of conventional biofuels could come from current or already planned production capacity of corn starch ethanol. Of the remaining 21 billion gallons of advanced biofuels needed to achieve the RFS2 targets, 16 billion gallons must come from advanced cellulosic biofuels that reduce GHG emissions by at least 60% relative to gasoline.
USDA recognizes that some regions have an advantage over others. The Southeast and Central-Eastern portions of the country could together produce more than 93% of the biofuels needed to meet the RFS2 targets. The Southeast, with its extended growing season, could produce nearly half of the biofuels needed. It and the Central-Eastern region, which stretches from North Dakota and Wisconsin south to Delaware and Virginia, have abundant resources of biofuels crops such as perennial grasses, biomass sorghum, crop residues, soy beans and woody biomass.
Using models designed by DOE's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that $12 billion in infrastructure improvements, particularly rail expansions, would be needed to sustain the growth in biofuels. See the USDA press release, the USDA biofuels report (PDF 799 KB), and the EPA's final rule (PDF 1.75 MB).
MIT Study: Natural Gas to Help Reduce GHG Emissions
Growing U.S. supplies of natural gas will help reduce GHG emissions over the next several decades, according to researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
An interim report on a two-year study of the future of natural gas concludes that highly efficient combined-cycle natural gas plants will replace older, inefficient coal plants.
There are still significant conventional global supplies of natural gas and unconventional sources, such as gas shales, are rapidly expanding the resource base. Gas shales alone have boosted US natural gas resources by an amount equal to 92 years of consumption at current rates of use, according to the study.
The MIT study estimates global recoverable natural gas resources at 16,200 trillion cubic feet, enough to last more than 160 years at current consumption rates. Assuming that industrialized countries and large emerging economies adopt GHG emissions limits, natural gas will largely displace coal in the power-generation sector by 2050, according to the report. See the MIT press release and the interim report (4.9 MB).
Honda Announces Pricing for CR-Z Hybrid Coupe
Honda announced the 2011 Honda CR-Z sport hybrid coupe will be in U.S. dealers' showrooms on August 24 at a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $19,200, plus a $750 destination charge.
