Brasher: Pace lags for new biofuels

Des Moines Register
By PHILIP BRASHER • pbrasher@DMREG.COM • May 10, 2009

Washington, D.C. — The clock is ticking on the Obama administration’s promises to speed development of the next generation of biofuels.

There isn’t a commercial-scale plant in operation making ethanol from crop residue and other types of plant cellulose, the stuff that’s supposed to replace corn as the feedstock of the future for biofuels.

The biomass fuel isn’t economical yet, and there are obstacles still to be overcome, including how to harvest, transport and store the huge amounts of biomass required.

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