The Department of Energy (DOE) is seeking advanced biofuels that can serve as “drop-in” replacements for petroleum products and use the same refining and distribution network, Under Secretary of Energy Kristina Johnson on Nov. 17 told delegates at the fourth annual Cellulosic Biofuels Summit. These "drop-in" replacements could have less drawbacks to corn-based ethanol. “One thing is, [corn-based ethanol] is not a very energy-dense fuel,” Johnson said. Ethanol has fewer British thermal units of energy per gallon than gasoline. In addition, ethanol readily attracts water and is corrosive, Johnson said. “So it’s not compatible with the…$9 trillion energy refinery and gas-station infrastructure that we currently have…The future is probably not corn-based ethanol,” Johnson said.  

Johnson said much of the US infrastructure is decades old. This includes energy infrastructure, as well as physical infrastructure. Emerging countries without established infrastructure “are able to leapfrog us,” Johnson said. China, for example, is skipping the installation of telephone land lines and going straight to cell phones, she said. “That’s what we have to do in this country, in every single sector of our manufacturing process,” Johnson said. “And we’re doing that in the biofuels area.” 

Ethanol production is using 30 percent of the nation’s corn crop, Johnson said. To meet legislated requirements for increased use of biofuels, she said the US needs to adopt policies to develop cellulosic ethanol. “This is probably the most important thing we can do for energy in this country,” she added. 

The DOE is sponsoring research that uses thermochemical processes to produce petroleum-like fuels from biomass, known as bio-oil. A process known as pyrolysis, for instance, can convert solid biomass into “bio-oil,” which can be further refined for uses that include electricity generation or fuel for diesel, gasoline, or jet engines. However, while pyrolysis demonstration facilities are being built or operated in the US, Canada, Europe, and Asia, at present there are not integrated fully commercial facilities where the bio-oil is converted to either electricity or transportation fuels. 

The comments from Johnson reinforce the Evolution Fuels perspective that the production of cellulosic ethanol, as opposed to corn-based ethanol, is a viable alternative over the long term, with the US ultimately needing to find a way to produce ethanol from non-food based sources.