WASHINGTON, Feb. 28 (UPI) -- It is unclear what proportion of the energy mix will come from cellulosic ethanol, a top Energy Department official said Wednesday.
"We don't know the ultimate mix ... will be and the challenge is not to think statically about it only extrapolating present technology in their present states," said Andy Karsner, assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy, in a conference call with reporters. "Cellulosic ethanol has the potential to become a very large proportion ... of" the energy mix."
He added: "It's a difficult to thing to say what it will look like 20 years from now."
Kranser was discussing the Energy Department's announcement Wednesday of an investment of $385 million to build six biorefineries over the next four years. He said those facilities will be the first to meet the timeline of making cellulosic ethanol cost-competitive with conventional ethanol by 2012.
He acknowledged, however, that for the short term, corn was likely to be the main source of ethanol in the United States, but noted: "At some point, we expect to find that that corn finds its natural economic equilibrium and stabilize. ... We also anticipate that to be near the 2012 time frame."
Most U.S. ethanol is made from corn, and the Bush administration's ambitious plan for ethanol has driven up corn prices worldwide to record levels.
