By Mike Bryan
December 13, 2006
Looking ahead, focus should shift to biomass
Alternatives to natural gas as a source for process heat and steam were especially hot topics this year despite retreating natural gas prices. Here's a look at what went down energy-wise in the ethanol industry in 2006.
After the president's powerful plug for cellulosic ethanol in early 2006, "switchgrass" became a more common word. Funding for scientific and technological efforts to produce ethanol from biomass on a commercial scale reached new heights, and although no actual concrete was poured to construct cellulosic ethanol plants, the foundation for the ethanol industry's next era began to cure.
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