Biofuels get boost; ethanol questioned

The effort is intended to create jobs, reduce US dependence on overseas oil, and curb greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming, the administration said yesterday. At the same time, the environmental value of biofuels must be accurately calculated, Cabinet officials said.

The Environmental Protection Agency, acting under 2007 legislation, for the first time has proposed methods to measure greenhouse gas emissions associated with biofuels.

The agency's initial review found that certain methods of corn ethanol production don't meet a requirement to emit 20 percent less greenhouse gas than gasoline does.

"Corn ethanol was never going to be the global warming solution," said Eli Hopson, a lobbyist for the Union of Concerned Scientists in Cambridge. "It's a transitional fuel and incredibly successful at doing that, and now we need to work toward the next piece of the puzzle."

Developing next-generation biofuels is critical to meeting the standards Congress established in 2007, Hopson said. The law quadrupled the requirement for blending ethanol and other biofuels into gasoline supplies.

Ethanol producers have struggled amid lower demand for fuel and volatile prices for corn, which currently is the primary source of the alternative fuel in the United States.

To bolster development of ethanol and other biofuels, the Energy Department will make available $786 million in stimulus funds. The Agriculture Department will dedicate $1.1 billion.