The earth contains a wide variety of carbon reservoirs that can be harnessed to meet the societal power requirements in the form of gaseous, liquid, and solid fuels with liquid fuels being of most importance. The modern world has come to rely almost exclusively on fossil-based reserves, a non-renewable resource, for production of liquid fuels. However, the cost and politics of being totally dependent on these reserves is getting progressively more expensive from both a strategic and sociological standpoint. A renewable source of fuels is required for meeting the future energy needs of the United States and the world. Unfortunately, politics and policy tend to be crisis management oriented resulting in a lag in the development of alternative fuels. One potential boost to the development of alternative fuels is the recent Executive Order released in August 12, 1999 which directs the Secretaries of Agriculture, Energy, and Treasury and the USEPA Administrator to initiate new research and stimulate industrial efforts on the development of biomass-based alternative fuels.

Ethanol produced from biomass represents an alternative fuel generally considered one of the most promising. This fully renewable resource can be produced from biomass collected from cultivated and/or wild sources, both of which are energetically charged from energy derived from the sun and absorbed carbon dioxide. The total energy potential of the earth’s current annual biomass production is estimated to be 2,740 quads (1 quad = 10¹⁶ BTUs), while the current total world energy annual usage is estimated to be only 340 quads, representing an eight-fold higher potential energy source over current needs.

Indeed, the use of renewable resources for supporting the energy needs of our country is a very important endeavor. Our group hopes to be an active part of the advancement of ethanol production from renewable resources.