Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer spoke to the Cellulosic Ethanol Summit Wednesday in Florida and outlined all the advancements being made in biofuels and the potential for the industry in the future. “Nobody is talking about us going backward,” Schafer said, then quickly corrected himself, saying “almost nobody,” noting that the Grocery Manufacturers Association and some others would like to see the industry move backward.
Speaking to members of the media after his speech, Schafer said the group that held a press conference yesterday calling for an end to ethanol subsidies “stood up there with no credibility whatsoever,” when they claimed that it will take 18-24 months for the lower commodity prices to bring food prices back down. “I just think that they are totally off base,” Schafer said. “They are trying to justify the increased cost and increased profits that they’re making at the expense of another industry and that’s just not appropriate.”
Schafer left the summit for Brazil to lead the U.S. delegation at an International Conference on Biofuels in Sao Paulo this week. “Seventy-five countries are going to be there,” Schafer said. “Our effort is to come together between the US and Brazil as the world’s two leading biofuels producers and look at regional and global approaches to bioenergy.”
Schafer also announced at the conference that applications are now being accepted for loan guarantees under the Biorefinery Assistance Program of the 2008 Farm Bill. The Biorefinery Assistance Program is designed to promote the development of new and emerging technologies for the production of advanced biofuels.
You can listen to some of Secretary Schafer’s comments to the press here:
[audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/rfa/cell-summit-08-schafer-press.mp3]
Renewable energy sources are important to the U.S., especially during the upcoming period of holiday travel.
The newly-formed 
The “Food Before Fuel” group called the press conference today as the “30th anniversary of ethanol subsidies” and referred to ethanol as “30-year-old under employed child” living in our basement. During the Cellulosic Ethanol Summit in Florida, 
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reminded the petroleum industry that next year’s renewable fuel standard (RFS) is being stepped up, and the industry must be ready to comply.
Joe Jobe, the CEO of the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) applauded the EPA for their diligence to ensure that obligated parties would be required to use 500 million gallons of biomass-based diesel to meet these requirements. “Biodiesel is a proven alternative that is ready now; with the highest energy balance of any renewable fuel, its growing economic impact of creating new ‘green’ jobs and an alternative that brings the U.S. closer to energy independence, biodiesel is the logical renewable fuel to look towards in the future,” Jobe stated. “Not to mention its environmental impact is significantly lower than any other fuel on the marketplace today.” 
Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Charles Bronson believes that Florida can be a leader in the production of cellulosic ethanol. 
As a cattle rancher by background, Bronson says he disagrees with some of his friends in the cattle industry. “They think that corn production is all being used up in the fuel, but it’s not,” Bronson said. “We’re producing more corn today than ever before in the United States so there is still plenty of corn left for humans and animals.”
The third annual 
“We have an E10 standard by 2010,” said Susac. “Another initiative that we are very proud of is the Department of Agriculture’s Farm to Fuel to stimulate the agriculture community to grow our fuels, fuel out cars, enhance our economy and strengthen our energy security.”
The Governator wants his state to get more of its energy from renewable sources.
Algae-biodiesel production company Solazyme, Inc. will be featuring its SoladieselRD(TM), the world’s first algal-based renewable diesel, at a summit this week in California.