US House Committee oks Bill to Promote Biofuels
Date: 01-Feb-07
Country: US
Author: Tom Doggett
The legislation requires the government to carry out research to make alternative biobased fuels, such as gasoline made of 85 percent ethanol, compatible with existing infrastructure to store and deliver the fuels to the point of final sale.
Specifically, the government would research ways to prevent or limit the damage from biofuels in corroding pipes and storage tanks, clogging filters and producing more emissions from higher evaporation rates.
The bill would also direct the government to develop technologies and methods to provide low-cost, portable and accurate measurements of sulfur in fuels, particularly new cleaner-burning diesel.
Making the fuels more acceptable to existing infrastructure will help reduce gasoline demand and make the United States less dependent on foreign oil imports, according to the bill's sponsors.
"If our country is serious about reducing our dependence on foreign oil, we need to get serious about mobilizing the infrastructure necessary to distribute and dispense alternative fuels," said Democratic Rep. Bart Gordon, chairman of the science panel.
"We can have all the biofuels to supply every car in our nation, but, if the infrastructure is not in place to move the fuels to where they are needed, then it doesn't help us," said Rep. Ralph Hall, the top Republican on the committee.
Gordon said the legislation was expected to go before the full House for a vote within the next two weeks.
Separately, President Bush on Wednesday pushed his plan to reduce US gasoline demand by 20 percent in the next decade by increasing ethanol and other alternative fuel use.
"It's a necessary goal for our national security and economic security," Bush said in a speech in New York on the US economy.
