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Gas From Garbage Finally Gets Momentum

From sawdust to agricultural waste, scientists drive toward new fuels

By Jim O'Neill,  Newser User

Posted Jul 24, 2008 9:18 AM CDT
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(Newser) – After decades of dreaming, schemes to turn waste into fuel are finally getting traction in the US, with some 28 plants in the works and a handful even up and running, the New York Times reports. They consume everything from wood chips to garbage, as once-prohibitively expensive processes become competitive with $4-a-gallon gasoline. “American innovation is going to come up with the solution,” one researcher tells the Times.

In the frenzy to be first to market, small start-ups are now getting a boost from corporate giants (Honeywell, Dupont, General Motors, Shell, BP) newly interested in acquiring stakes. There are many hurdles, but the government is giving the nascent industry a big push, as studies tout its potential to replace half the gasoline used in the US. Legislation passed last year mandates the use of 36 billion gallons of biofuels a year by 2022, less than half of it from corn ethanol.

Biofuel friendly palm oil plants, in central Sumatra's Riau Province.
Biofuel friendly palm oil plants, in central Sumatra's Riau Province.   (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)
Sawdust flows off the shaker tray at Hancock Lumber sawmill, in Casco, Maine.
Sawdust flows off the shaker tray at Hancock Lumber sawmill, in Casco, Maine.   (AP Photo/Pat Wellenbach)
A handful of corn is shown before it is processed at the Tall Corn Ethanol plant in Coon Rapids, Iowa.
A handful of corn is shown before it is processed at the Tall Corn Ethanol plant in Coon Rapids, Iowa.   (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)
A machine cuts cane in a plantation in Batatais, Brazil for use in manufacturing ethanol.
A machine cuts cane in a plantation in Batatais, Brazil for use in manufacturing ethanol.   (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
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What are biofuels?
Wikipedia

Academics still unsure of biofuels potential
Daily Californian

 
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