The National Corn Growers Association participated in a two-day workshop in Washington, D.C. last week aimed at setting initiatives to reduce the nation’s dependence on imported oil by increasing the usage of renewable fuels like ethanol in the transportation sector, according to an NCGA release.

The workshop was hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and the Office of Biomass Program as part of the department’s effort to achieve the goals set forth in the Bush administration’s Biofuels Initiative.

The initiative focused heavily on how to make cellulosic ethanol cost competitive by 2012 and to reduce the nation’s dependence on oil imports by 75 percent by 2025. The initiative aims to achieve a volumetric goal of 60 billion gallons of biofuels (or 30 percent of 2004 gasoline consumption equivalent) by 2030.

The agenda included discussions on collaborative planning efforts and breakout sessions, including wet and dry mill corn processing, agricultural residues, infrastructure needs and identification of barriers to biofuel expansion by 2012 in order for the United States to meet the 30×30 biofuels goal.