The Quincy Library Group has just

completed the Northeastern

California Ethanol Manufacturing Feasibility

Study, which focuses

on the use of trees

removed from the

forests for biomass to

be converted to fuel

ethanol. The study is 

available on the Quincy 

Library Group web site at

www.qlg.org/public_html/act_acp/ethanol/feasibility.htm,

or call Sally Neufeld at NREL at 303.275.3803.

The Governor’s Ethanol Coalition has published its

ethanol market study, Drivers’ Awareness, Attitudes,

and Usage of Ethanol-Blended Fuel, which discusses

environmental and engine performance benefits that

would encourage drivers to use ethanol-powered

vehicles. For more information, call Ward Lenz, Iowa

Department of Natural Resources, at 515.281.7018.

Argonne National Laboratory, Center for

Transportation Research, released its study Fuel-Cycle

Fossil Energy Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Fuel

Ethanol Produced from Midwest Corn. The study finds

that the corn-to-ethanol fuel cycle for Midwestproduced ethanol used as both E85 and

E10 outperforms that of conventional and reformulated gasoline with respect to fossil-based energy use

and greenhouse gas

production. For

more information

call the National

Alternative Fuels Hotline at 800.423.1DOE, or David

Loos of the Illinois Department of Commerce and

Community Affairs at 217.785.3969.

DOE’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) 

has published the Annual Energy Outlook 1998 with

Projections through 2020. This projection looks at the

carbon emissions from energy consumption, and predicts the

growth of E85 through

the year 2020. This

work also examines

the need for market

penetrations of more

efficient equipment

and less use of carbonintensive fuels. For more

information call EIA at

202.586.8800, or visit the web site:

www.eia.doe.gov/forecasting_index.html.

DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory 

has published The Ethanol Heavy-Duty Truck Fleet

Demonstration Project, which evaluates ethanol-fueled

truck progress. Archer Daniels Midland is one company that operates the new E95-fueled trucks. For a copy

of the final report see the web site:

www.afdc.doe.gov/demoproj/hdv/htitle.html.

The National Corn Growers Association’s (NCGA)

1998 The World of Corn has just been published in a

color, reader-friendly format. “Readers will see right

away why The World of Corn is the authoritative annual

report on America’s top crop,” says President Ryland

Utlaut in NCGA’s News of the Day.

Contents include current acreage

and harvest statistical data,

usage, exports, values,

research, consumption

trends, and more. 

The World of Corn

is available on the

NCGA web site:

www.ncga.com.

DID YOU KNOW?

page 5

Many new reports and 

publications are available!

Car: Photo Courtesy of Ford Motor Company/PIX 01548 Trees: Warren Gretz, NREL/PIX 00993

Errata: In the Winter 1998 issue of Biofuels News, phone Northwest Region Contact: Jeff James 206.553.2079

numbers for two Regional Biomass Energy Program Western Region Contact: Jeff Graef 402.471.3218

representatives were incorrect. The correct numbers are:

The Front Range Forest Health Partnership has 

produced the Phase I Feasibility Study to determine the 

environmental and economical feasibility of using wood wastes from

forested and urban areas to produce fuel ethanol. For more information, contact Paula Volkin, project manager, Front Range 

Forest Health Partnership, 303.554.9530. 
It Takes an Industry (continued) 

page 2 

The solution hinges on technology. Recent advances

in research supported by DOE are moving this environmental vision closer to industrial reality. And corn

stover is just the beginning. Other feedstocks, such as

wood wastes, paper, hay, straw, sugarcane, and bagasse

offer alternative energy opportunities as well. Two

things, however, argue convincingly for corn stover 

as the logical starting place for further development—

volume and experience.

U.S. farmers plant about 80 million acres of corn each

year, with a potential stover harvest of some 120 million

dry tons. This is nearly four times greater than the biomass available from wood waste and paper, the next

largest feedstock category. Using the entire harvested

corn crop could further reduce new investments in infrastructure, utilities, and overhead to support the conversion process. Plus, more than 90% of the ethanol now

produced in the United States comes from corn kernels.

Thus, processors are already familiar

with production techniques, methods, and equipment, and need only

expand to accommodate stover,

rather than build anew. These two

facts alone significantly reduce the

risk producers must take in what 

is perceived as the highly capitalintensive business of converting 

cellulosic material into a petroleum

substitute.

The first step toward a viable cellulosic ethanol industry is to better understand and clarify each player’s role

in the process. The farming and forestry communities

provide the raw product; enzyme producers formulate

the enzymes needed to aid the conversion of cellulose

to glucose. The processing industry must then make

the investment in the infrastructure and equipment 

necessary to make the ethanol.

To succeed, the cost of the cellulose-to-ethanol 

process must become competitive with petroleum distillation and distribution. The catalyst in this formula is 

to reduce the cost of the enzymes. If the producers are

willing to make the necessary research and development (R&D) investments, they will be looking at a

$400 million annual market. First, however, they need

a committed customer base and the promise of an

attractive return on their investments.

“If enzymes could be readily purchased by a biomass 

conversion entity at a cost-competitive price, it would

be a large advancement for the industry,” says David

Glassner, technical manager of the Biofuels Program at

the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in

Golden, Colorado. Heightened interest in the corn stoverto-ethanol industry could spur collaborations among

the enzyme producers, corn producers and processors,

DOE, and NREL to develop more affordable enzymes.

Currently, the cost of enzyme production is approximately $0.45/gallon of usable ethanol, according to Jim

Hettenhaus, president of Chief Executive Assistance, in

Charlotte, North Carolina. A recent assessment headed

up by Mike Himmel, senior biochemist at NREL, looked

at technical strategies to boost enzyme production and

concluded that proven tools and techniques used in

other enzyme systems could reduce the cost of enzymes

to less than $0.10/gallon of ethanol.

Improvements in other links of the cellulose-to-fuel

chain would offer even further economies-of-scale, 

and sweeten the pot for those willing to risk the needed

investment in infrastructure and R&D. According 

to Marie Walsh, economist at Oak Ridge National

Laboratory in Tennessee, a DOE-sponsored Ethanol

Evolution Study sheds some light on what’s needed 

on the front end of the conversion process.

The study estimates that corn stover can be delivered

to a processing plant at a cost of $33–$40/dry ton 

in regions where corn is a major crop. Each acre of 

harvested crop produces as many as 1.5 tons of stover.

Walsh’s estimate is validated in practice by an Iowa

plant that uses corn stover for chemical production 

and pays $30-35 for delivered raw product.

Of course, abundance of stover and proximity to processing facilities play a major role in delivery costs. If the

cost of raw feedstock can be lowered by improvements 

Printed with a renewable-source ink on paper containing at least 50% wastepaper, including 20% postconsumer waste.

Corn stover bales in Harlan, Iowa

continued on page 3

PIX 06017
It Takes an Industry (continued) 

page 2 

The solution hinges on technology. Recent advances

in research supported by DOE are moving this environmental vision closer to industrial reality. And corn

stover is just the beginning. Other feedstocks, such as

wood wastes, paper, hay, straw, sugarcane, and bagasse

offer alternative energy opportunities as well. Two

things, however, argue convincingly for corn stover 

as the logical starting place for further development—

volume and experience.

U.S. farmers plant about 80 million acres of corn each

year, with a potential stover harvest of some 120 million

dry tons. This is nearly four times greater than the biomass available from wood waste and paper, the next

largest feedstock category. Using the entire harvested

corn crop could further reduce new investments in infrastructure, utilities, and overhead to support the conversion process. Plus, more than 90% of the ethanol now

produced in the United States comes from corn kernels.

Thus, processors are already familiar

with production techniques, methods, and equipment, and need only

expand to accommodate stover,

rather than build anew. These two

facts alone significantly reduce the

risk producers must take in what 

is perceived as the highly capitalintensive business of converting 

cellulosic material into a petroleum

substitute.

The first step toward a viable cellulosic ethanol industry is to better understand and clarify each player’s role

in the process. The farming and forestry communities

provide the raw product; enzyme producers formulate

the enzymes needed to aid the conversion of cellulose

to glucose. The processing industry must then make

the investment in the infrastructure and equipment 

necessary to make the ethanol.

To succeed, the cost of the cellulose-to-ethanol 

process must become competitive with petroleum distillation and distribution. The catalyst in this formula is 

to reduce the cost of the enzymes. If the producers are

willing to make the necessary research and development (R&D) investments, they will be looking at a

$400 million annual market. First, however, they need

a committed customer base and the promise of an

attractive return on their investments.

“If enzymes could be readily purchased by a biomass 

conversion entity at a cost-competitive price, it would

be a large advancement for the industry,” says David

Glassner, technical manager of the Biofuels Program at

the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in

Golden, Colorado. Heightened interest in the corn stoverto-ethanol industry could spur collaborations among

the enzyme producers, corn producers and processors,

DOE, and NREL to develop more affordable enzymes.

Currently, the cost of enzyme production is approximately $0.45/gallon of usable ethanol, according to Jim

Hettenhaus, president of Chief Executive Assistance, in

Charlotte, North Carolina. A recent assessment headed

up by Mike Himmel, senior biochemist at NREL, looked

at technical strategies to boost enzyme production and

concluded that proven tools and techniques used in

other enzyme systems could reduce the cost of enzymes

to less than $0.10/gallon of ethanol.

Improvements in other links of the cellulose-to-fuel

chain would offer even further economies-of-scale, 

and sweeten the pot for those willing to risk the needed

investment in infrastructure and R&D. According 

to Marie Walsh, economist at Oak Ridge National

Laboratory in Tennessee, a DOE-sponsored Ethanol

Evolution Study sheds some light on what’s needed 

on the front end of the conversion process.

The study estimates that corn stover can be delivered

to a processing plant at a cost of $33–$40/dry ton 

in regions where corn is a major crop. Each acre of 

harvested crop produces as many as 1.5 tons of stover.

Walsh’s estimate is validated in practice by an Iowa

plant that uses corn stover for chemical production 

and pays $30-35 for delivered raw product.

Of course, abundance of stover and proximity to processing facilities play a major role in delivery costs. If the

cost of raw feedstock can be lowered by improvements 

Printed with a renewable-source ink on paper containing at least 50% wastepaper, including 20% postconsumer waste.

Corn stover bales in Harlan, Iowa

continued on page 3

PIX 06017
It Takes an Industry (continued) 

page 2 

The solution hinges on technology. Recent advances

in research supported by DOE are moving this environmental vision closer to industrial reality. And corn

stover is just the beginning. Other feedstocks, such as

wood wastes, paper, hay, straw, sugarcane, and bagasse

offer alternative energy opportunities as well. Two

things, however, argue convincingly for corn stover 

as the logical starting place for further development—

volume and experience.

U.S. farmers plant about 80 million acres of corn each

year, with a potential stover harvest of some 120 million

dry tons. This is nearly four times greater than the biomass available from wood waste and paper, the next

largest feedstock category. Using the entire harvested

corn crop could further reduce new investments in infrastructure, utilities, and overhead to support the conversion process. Plus, more than 90% of the ethanol now

produced in the United States comes from corn kernels.

Thus, processors are already familiar

with production techniques, methods, and equipment, and need only

expand to accommodate stover,

rather than build anew. These two

facts alone significantly reduce the

risk producers must take in what 

is perceived as the highly capitalintensive business of converting 

cellulosic material into a petroleum

substitute.

The first step toward a viable cellulosic ethanol industry is to better understand and clarify each player’s role

in the process. The farming and forestry communities

provide the raw product; enzyme producers formulate

the enzymes needed to aid the conversion of cellulose

to glucose. The processing industry must then make

the investment in the infrastructure and equipment 

necessary to make the ethanol.

To succeed, the cost of the cellulose-to-ethanol 

process must become competitive with petroleum distillation and distribution. The catalyst in this formula is 

to reduce the cost of the enzymes. If the producers are

willing to make the necessary research and development (R&D) investments, they will be looking at a

$400 million annual market. First, however, they need

a committed customer base and the promise of an

attractive return on their investments.

“If enzymes could be readily purchased by a biomass 

conversion entity at a cost-competitive price, it would

be a large advancement for the industry,” says David

Glassner, technical manager of the Biofuels Program at

the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in

Golden, Colorado. Heightened interest in the corn stoverto-ethanol industry could spur collaborations among

the enzyme producers, corn producers and processors,

DOE, and NREL to develop more affordable enzymes.

Currently, the cost of enzyme production is approximately $0.45/gallon of usable ethanol, according to Jim

Hettenhaus, president of Chief Executive Assistance, in

Charlotte, North Carolina. A recent assessment headed

up by Mike Himmel, senior biochemist at NREL, looked

at technical strategies to boost enzyme production and

concluded that proven tools and techniques used in

other enzyme systems could reduce the cost of enzymes

to less than $0.10/gallon of ethanol.

Improvements in other links of the cellulose-to-fuel

chain would offer even further economies-of-scale, 

and sweeten the pot for those willing to risk the needed

investment in infrastructure and R&D. According 

to Marie Walsh, economist at Oak Ridge National

Laboratory in Tennessee, a DOE-sponsored Ethanol

Evolution Study sheds some light on what’s needed 

on the front end of the conversion process.

The study estimates that corn stover can be delivered

to a processing plant at a cost of $33–$40/dry ton 

in regions where corn is a major crop. Each acre of 

harvested crop produces as many as 1.5 tons of stover.

Walsh’s estimate is validated in practice by an Iowa

plant that uses corn stover for chemical production 

and pays $30-35 for delivered raw product.

Of course, abundance of stover and proximity to processing facilities play a major role in delivery costs. If the

cost of raw feedstock can be lowered by improvements 

Printed with a renewable-source ink on paper containing at least 50% wastepaper, including 20% postconsumer waste.

Corn stover bales in Harlan, Iowa

continued on page 3

PIX 0601
The Quincy Library Group has just

completed the Northeastern

California Ethanol Manufacturing Feasibility

Study, which focuses

on the use of trees

removed from the

forests for biomass to

be converted to fuel

ethanol. The study is 

available on the Quincy 

Library Group web site at

www.qlg.org/public_html/act_acp/ethanol/feasibility.htm,

or call Sally Neufeld at NREL at 303.275.3803.

The Governor’s Ethanol Coalition has published its

ethanol market study, Drivers’ Awareness, Attitudes,

and Usage of Ethanol-Blended Fuel, which discusses

environmental and engine performance benefits that

would encourage drivers to use ethanol-powered

vehicles. For more information, call Ward Lenz, Iowa

Department of Natural Resources, at 515.281.7018.

Argonne National Laboratory, Center for

Transportation Research, released its study Fuel-Cycle

Fossil Energy Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Fuel

Ethanol Produced from Midwest Corn. The study finds

that the corn-to-ethanol fuel cycle for Midwestproduced ethanol used as both E85 and

E10 outperforms that of conventional and reformulated gasoline with respect to fossil-based energy use

and greenhouse gas

production. For

more information

call the National

Alternative Fuels Hotline at 800.423.1DOE, or David

Loos of the Illinois Department of Commerce and

Community Affairs at 217.785.3969.

DOE’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) 

has published the Annual Energy Outlook 1998 with

Projections through 2020. This projection looks at the

carbon emissions from energy consumption, and predicts the

growth of E85 through

the year 2020. This

work also examines

the need for market

penetrations of more

efficient equipment

and less use of carbonintensive fuels. For more

information call EIA at

202.586.8800, or visit the web site:

www.eia.doe.gov/forecasting_index.html.

DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory 

has published The Ethanol Heavy-Duty Truck Fleet

Demonstration Project, which evaluates ethanol-fueled

truck progress. Archer Daniels Midland is one company that operates the new E95-fueled trucks. For a copy

of the final report see the web site:

www.afdc.doe.gov/demoproj/hdv/htitle.html.

The National Corn Growers Association’s (NCGA)

1998 The World of Corn has just been published in a

color, reader-friendly format. “Readers will see right

away why The World of Corn is the authoritative annual

report on America’s top crop,” says President Ryland

Utlaut in NCGA’s News of the Day.

Contents include current acreage

and harvest statistical data,

usage, exports, values,

research, consumption

trends, and more. 

The World of Corn

is available on the

NCGA web site:

www.ncga.com.

DID YOU KNOW?

page 5

Many new reports and 

publications are available!

Car: Photo Courtesy of Ford Motor Company/PIX 01548 Trees: Warren Gretz, NREL/PIX 00993

Errata: In the Winter 1998 issue of Biofuels News, phone Northwest Region Contact: Jeff James 206.553.2079

numbers for two Regional Biomass Energy Program Western Region Contact: Jeff Graef 402.471.3218

representatives were incorrect. The correct numbers are:

The Front Range Forest Health Partnership has 

produced the Phase I Feasibility Study to determine the 

environmental and economical feasibility of using wood wastes from

forested and urban areas to produce fuel ethanol. For more information, contact Paula Volkin, project manager, Front Range 

Forest Health Partnership, 303.554.9530. 
The Quincy Library Group has just

completed the Northeastern

California Ethanol Manufacturing Feasibility

Study, which focuses

on the use of trees

removed from the

forests for biomass to

be converted to fuel

ethanol. The study is 

available on the Quincy 

Library Group web site at

www.qlg.org/public_html/act_acp/ethanol/feasibility.htm,

or call Sally Neufeld at NREL at 303.275.3803.

The Governor’s Ethanol Coalition has published its

ethanol market study, Drivers’ Awareness, Attitudes,

and Usage of Ethanol-Blended Fuel, which discusses

environmental and engine performance benefits that

would encourage drivers to use ethanol-powered

vehicles. For more information, call Ward Lenz, Iowa

Department of Natural Resources, at 515.281.7018.

Argonne National Laboratory, Center for

Transportation Research, released its study Fuel-Cycle

Fossil Energy Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Fuel

Ethanol Produced from Midwest Corn. The study finds

that the corn-to-ethanol fuel cycle for Midwestproduced ethanol used as both E85 and

E10 outperforms that of conventional and reformulated gasoline with respect to fossil-based energy use

and greenhouse gas

production. For

more information

call the National

Alternative Fuels Hotline at 800.423.1DOE, or David

Loos of the Illinois Department of Commerce and

Community Affairs at 217.785.3969.

DOE’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) 

has published the Annual Energy Outlook 1998 with

Projections through 2020. This projection looks at the

carbon emissions from energy consumption, and predicts the

growth of E85 through

the year 2020. This

work also examines

the need for market

penetrations of more

efficient equipment

and less use of carbonintensive fuels. For more

information call EIA at

202.586.8800, or visit the web site:

www.eia.doe.gov/forecasting_index.html.

DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory 

has published The Ethanol Heavy-Duty Truck Fleet

Demonstration Project, which evaluates ethanol-fueled

truck progress. Archer Daniels Midland is one company that operates the new E95-fueled trucks. For a copy

of the final report see the web site:

www.afdc.doe.gov/demoproj/hdv/htitle.html.

The National Corn Growers Association’s (NCGA)

1998 The World of Corn has just been published in a

color, reader-friendly format. “Readers will see right

away why The World of Corn is the authoritative annual

report on America’s top crop,” says President Ryland

Utlaut in NCGA’s News of the Day.

Contents include current acreage

and harvest statistical data,

usage, exports, values,

research, consumption

trends, and more. 

The World of Corn

is available on the

NCGA web site:

www.ncga.com.

DID YOU KNOW?

page 5

Many new reports and 

publications are available!

Car: Photo Courtesy of Ford Motor Company/PIX 01548 Trees: Warren Gretz, NREL/PIX 00993

Errata: In the Winter 1998 issue of Biofuels News, phone Northwest Region Contact: Jeff James 206.553.2079

numbers for two Regional Biomass Energy Program Western Region Contact: Jeff Graef 402.471.3218

representatives were incorrect. The correct numbers are:

The Front Range Forest Health Partnership has 

produced the Phase I Feasibility Study to determine the 

environmental and economical feasibility of using wood wastes from

forested and urban areas to produce fuel ethanol. For more information, contact Paula Volkin, project manager, Front Range 

Forest Health Partnership, 303.554.9530.