Focus On...

The Office of 

Fuels Development

Welcome to Biofuels News, a quarterly newsletter

from DOE’s Office of Fuels Development (OFD), a division

of the Office of Transportation Technologies (OTT). OFD

develops technologies for biofuels (primarily ethanol and

biodiesel), and works with industry to support the demonstration of the technologies. 

Biofuels News focuses on DOE-driven biofuels

activities. This issue is dedicated to the use of biofuels and

the global climate change debate. 

OFD’s biofuels research and development (R&D)

efforts are led by two federal laboratories: Oak Ridge

National Laboratory (ORNL) and the National Renewable

Energy Laboratory (NREL). ORNL’s Biomass Energy

Feedstock Program focuses on the R&D of fast-growing

biomass feedstocks that can be converted to transportation

fuels. NREL’s Biofuels Program researchers develop 

technologies that convert dedicated crops and other 

biomass feedstocks to ethanol. The efforts of both 

laboratories have resulted in many improvements in 

biofuels process technology.

DOE’s Regional Biomass Energy Program (RBEP),

furthers the biofuels commercialization efforts by 

coordinating and fostering biofuels R&D, production, and

use on a regional level. The RBEPs promote the production

and use of biomass-derived fuels and energy by providing

technical information and other assistance and by removing

barriers to the demonstration of biomass energy 

technologies.

Special Interview

Our “Focus On” section features a special interview on

global climate change issues with OFD director John

Ferrell. We asked for his thoughts concerning the global

climate change conference in Kyoto, Japan, and how it

might influence OFD programs.

BN: How will OFD programs be affected by global climate

change?

JF: I foresee that global climate change will be a main 

driver for OFD biofuels efforts because ethanol and

biodiesel are the only liquid transportation fuels that

involve carbon recycling, which has an obvious advantage

from the climate change perspective. It is my hope that

funding for the program will increase because of this

attribute. (See “Two Federal Laboratories Work to Reduce

Greenhouse Gas Emissions,” p. 3.)

BN: How might the outcome of the Kyoto conference

affect biofuels and OFD, both in the near and long terms? 

JF: If emissions are reduced to 7% below 1990 levels, we

would see near-term changes. One approach to reducing

greenhouse gases could be to displace fossil-derived 

gasoline with ethanol by blending a small amount of

ethanol (say 10%) into every gallon of gasoline. With more

than 1 trillion miles traveled on 10% ethanol/gasoline

blends, U.S. drivers are becoming comfortable with using

fuels that contain ethanol. Also, research dollars might be

increased, which could accelerate ethanol’s ability to 

compete in the marketplace. 

There could be support for a long-term option to increase

the widespread use of fuel, chemicals, and electricity from

biomass sources to lower greenhouse gas emissions to

1990 levels. Additionally, because of the need to increase

the supply of biofuels (more biomass feedstocks will be

required to meet the potential increased demand), a longterm vision may be to increase the focus of DOE and

USDA on energy crop development. 

BN: How will the global warming issue affect the continued

development and commercialization of biofuels?

JF: Federal, state, and producer incentives might be developed to accelerate the deployment of biomass-based 

products.

volume 1, number 1 news Winter 1998

Listed below are the five Regional Biomass Energy

Program offices: 

Southeast Region Northwest Region

Contact: Philip Badger Contact: Jeff James

Phone: 205.386.3086 206.553.2079

Northeast Region Western Region

Contact: Richard Handley Contact: Jeff Graef

Phone: 202.624.8454 Phone: 402.471.3218

Great Lakes Region

Contact: Fred Kuzel

Phone: 312.407.0177

Printed with a renewable-source ink on paper containing 

at least 50% wastepaper, including 20% postconsumer waste
BN: Do you think the increased interest in global climate

change issues will have a positive effect on OFD funding?

JF: Yes. The FY 1999 budget could be increased because of

the potential of newly created projects. In order to help

meet the emission reduction levels put forth by the Kyoto

treaty, a larger effort to demonstrate the biomass ethanol

technologies will be needed in the near term.

BN: Public awareness of alternative fuels has recently

increased. Do you think Kyoto and global climate change

issues in general will sustain public awareness and increase

interest about alternative fuels? 

JF: I am hopeful. A concerted effort will be needed to keep

this issue in front of the public. It will depend on efforts

from many groups, including environmental and scientific

communities, major oil companies, decision makers, auto

manufacturers, fuel producers, and industry at large.

BN: How do you think the global climate change issue, or

the outcome of Kyoto, will affect program integration in

OTT? 

JF: Program integration between fuels and vehicles could

become stronger. This could be achieved by using vehicles

with efficient propulsion systems and fueling these vehicles

with alternative fuels that may reduce greenhouse gas

emissions even further; for example, highly efficient,

ethanol fuel-cell powered vehicles. 

BN: Where do you see OFD project development heading

in the next 5, 10, or 20 years? 

JF: We hope to reach our goal of supporting projects to

make ethanol from biomass by the year 2001. If a number

of projects can demonstrate the technology, a new industry

may be born. 

Within 10 to 15 years we could see transportation fuel

from sawdust, rice straw, and corn fiber. We may begin to

see a major shift in the agricultural system to produce

larger quantities of biomass for biofuels feedstock uses.

We project that the ethanol industry could grow to 

12 billion gallons by 2020.

In the Spotlight...

BCI to Construct 

Biomass-to-Ethanol 

Production Facility

Jennings, Louisiana—With support from DOE’s

Office of Fuels Development (OFD), BC International

Corporation (BCI) plans to open a biomass-to-ethanol

facility. It could be the first facility operational in the

world that uses genetically engineered fermentation

organisms to convert hemicellulose sugars to ethanol.

Construction on the plant, a former molasses-to-ethanol

facility, will begin this summer; the facility should be

operational by the middle of 1999. This facility is a major

milestone on the road to biomass ethanol commercialization.

The initial ethanol production goal is 10 million gallons

per year; the ultimate goal is 25 million gallons per year.

Biofuels News

2

Did you know?

Biofuels Program on the

World Wide Web

Biofuels Information Center (www.biofuels.nrel.gov)

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)

operates the Biofuels Information Center. This site has

NREL’s R&D efforts, including issues of Biofuels News

(formerly Biofuels Update), fact sheets, and technology briefs,

all of which can be downloaded in minutes. 

Bioenergy Information Network (www.esd.ornl.gov/bfdp)

The Bioenergy Information Network is supported by

DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

The site helps you find information about liquid and

gaseous fuels produced from renewable feedstocks. From

this location you can access three databases that provide

biofuels information, Regional Biomass Energy Programs,

and project summaries that allow you to track ongoing

research. The site is very large but easy to navigate. It is a

definite bookmark for anyone interested in sources of

renewable energy.

Upcoming Conferences and Events

20th Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals

May 3–7, 1998

Gatlinburg, Tennessee

Contact: Brian Davison...........................................423.241.3800

Fourth National Clean Cities Stakeholders Conference

& Exposition

May 31–June 3, 1998

Washington, DC

Contact: Clean Cities Hotline................................800.CCITIES

1998 Windsor Workshop on Alternative Transportation Fuels

June 8–10, 1998

Toronto, Ontario Canada

Contact: Susan Horton............................905.822.4111, ext. 515

14th Annual Fuel Ethanol Workshop International

June 29–July 1, 1998

South Bend, Indiana

Contact: Bryan & Bryan..........................................719.942.4353
The primary feedstock will be bagasse, the waste

product from manufacturing sugar from sugarcane. The

facility will also be able to make ethanol from other biomass

feedstocks, such as rice straw and sawdust. Biomass feedstocks for ethanol create markets for waste that traditionally

would have been burned or landfilled. New feedstock

development presents additional market opportunities

and crop diversity to farmers. For more information 

contact Steve Gatto, BCI (617.461.5700).

Fueling the

Environment

Two Federal Laboratories

Work to Reduce Greenhouse

Gas Emissions

As the world consumes fossil fuels at an alarming

rate, new carbons are continually released into the atmosphere. These carbon emissions are greenhouse gases that

may cause global climate change. Carbon moves through

a cyclic process, known as the carbon cycle, whereby the

carbon in the atmosphere is adsorbed by plants. The plants

use carbon to make new cells for growth. When the plant

dies, most of its carbon is returned to the atmosphere by

decaying organisms. Ethanol production from biomass

takes the carbon that would be returned to the atmosphere

by decaying organisms and routes the carbon into ethanol.

The ethanol then can be used in a vehicle motor fuel,

which converts the carbon to carbon dioxide. The carbon

dioxide produced by the vehicle from the ethanol is the

same quantity that natural decay of the original biomass

produces. Use of gasoline or other fossil fuels in motor

vehicles results in release of carbon to the atmosphere that

would not be there otherwise. This release of “new” carbon

is responsible for the global climate change concern.

Ethanol emits no “new” carbon. The carbon released 

during ethanol combustion was previously captured from

the atmosphere during plant growth. It is then recycled

from the atmosphere by plants used as feedstock for

ethanol, then back to the atmosphere when the ethanol is

burned. 

Ethanol use is an effective solution to the greenhouse gas problem, but many challenges must be overcome

before its full potential is commercially realized. The biggest

challenge is for ethanol to be economically competitive

with gasoline. Two federal laboratories, Oak Ridge National

Laboratory (ORNL) and the National Renewable Energy

Laboratory (NREL) are driving biomass-based ethanol to

commercialization and to cost competitiveness with 

gasoline through their R&D efforts. 

ORNL researchers have successfully developed

fast-growing, high-yield trees and perennial grasses for

conversion to ethanol. “Higher yields mean a lot to farmers

who have to worry about the bottom line and measure

economic success by the bushels and tons sold,” says

Janet Cushman, manager of the Biofuels Feedstock

Development Program at ORNL. “ORNL has been developing working group partnerships with farmers to 

validate these yields under real-world conditions. ORNL’s

R&D successes are steadily closing the commercialization

gap for the use of dedicated biomass feedstocks.”

Biofuels News

3

“We are excited about the wide-ranging potential of

this breakthrough technology. It addresses a number

of environmental, energy, strategic, and economic

issues, including dramatic reductions in greenhouse

gases. This enabling technology would not be ready if

it weren’t for the long-term R&D commitments by

agencies such as DOE and USDA, and by DOE’s

partnering with companies such as BCI to bring these

types of advances out of the laboratory and into the

mainstream where commercial application can

become a reality. Beyond just the United States, we

are also excited about how this technology will

greatly improve the quality of life across the entire

planet.”

—Steve Gatto, president of BCI

The BCI plant (above) will be the first of three biomass-to-ethanol

plants scheduled for construction in the near future. Arkenol

plans to produce ethanol by converting rice straw in California’s

Sacramento Valley, and Masada Resources Group is planning a

municipal solid waste-to-ethanol production facility in New York

state. For more information, contact Mark Carver, Arkenol, Inc.

(714.454.4216) or Rob Minor, Masada (205.320.1888).

Air Bear Aerial Photography, Lake Charles, LA
s wen 1r eb mun, 1 e mul ov

The NREL Biofuels Program mission is to develop

lower cost technologies for conversion of biomass (such as

the energy crops created by ORNL) into ethanol. “The

conversion must be as inexpensive and efficient as possible

in order to make ethanol competitive with gasoline,” said

Art Wiselogel, senior project coordinator of NREL’s

Biotechnology Center for Fuels and Chemicals. “NREL’s

Biofuels Program has passed many technical milestones in

support of near-term commercialization.” NREL scientists

and engineers have participated in pilot technology

demonstrations using the DOE/NREL pilot plant in

Golden, Colorado. Researchers are continuing to reduce

ethanol production cost by engineering new fermentation

organisms, identifying better cellulase enzymes, designing

more efficient pretreatment reactors, and adding value to

the lignin material by converting it to fuel components.

This continued progress will lead to an economically

viable alternative to conventional gasoline. 

As America faces the challenge of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, ethanol is one of the innovative and

healthy options the United States can use to meet environmental challenges.

On the Federal Front...

Effect of the Kyoto

Conference on Renewable

Energy

The United Nations (U.N.) Framework Convention

on Climate Change in Kyoto, Japan, is over, so it is up to

Congress to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, which requires a

7% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2012 compared to

the 1990 baseline.

Before the conference, the U.S. Senate passed a

resolution (SR 98), expressing concern about the conditions

for the United States becoming a signatory to any international agreement on greenhouse gas emissions under the

Convention. SR 98 requires commitments of “meaningful

participation from developing countries” in order for the

United States to take an active role in a global agreement.

This language was not included in the Kyoto Protocol.

Thus, the Kyoto agreement might not pass Congress.

Another issue was the number of greenhouse gases to

include in the agreement. The U.S. pushed to have all six

greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen

oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur

hexafluoride) included in the protocol to provide a 

comprehensive reduction effort. 

President Clinton’s Climate Change Proposal,

released October 22, 1997, was the foundation for U.S.

negotiations throughout the conference. The main focus of

the proposal was to implement “binding and realistic”

greenhouse gas emission reduction targets that reach 1990

emissions levels by 2012. The proposal included a 

$5 billion program of tax cuts and research and development for new energy-efficient technological advances. The

proposal states that, “One-third of the nation’s carbon

dioxide emissions come from the transportation sector,

primarily cars. Powering the fuel cell with renewable

fuels, such as ethanol, we could eliminate the automotive

greenhouse gas emissions entirely in the long run.” It also

mentions how DOE’s five-laboratory study illustrates many

exciting technologies that produce win-win solutions to

reducing carbon emissions. President Clinton reinforced

this effort January 27, 1998 in his state of the Union address,

“I propose $6 billion in tax cuts and research and development to encourage innovation, renewable energy, 

fuel-efficient cars and energy-efficient homes.” 

The next gathering of the Conference of the Parties

(states that have ratified the treaty) to discuss the provisions

of the Kyoto Protocol will take place in Buenos Aires,

Argentina, in November 1998.

Biofuels News

e information, contact . For mor gy (DOE) by ICF Kaiser ritten for the U.S. Department of Ener W DOE/GO-10098-529

the National Alternative Fuels Hotline at 800-423-1DOE.

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