Biofuels Production Holds Promise

With the Michigan Legislature reviewing bills calling for 10 percent of the state's electricity to come from renewable sources by 2015, some experts say bioenergy could fuel the state's effort to reach that goal, reports The Michigan Daily.

Sen. Glenn Anderson (D-Westland), who sponsored the Senate bill, said Michigan must reduce its reliance on fossil fuels because of their limited supply and negative environmental effects. He projected that "by a certain date," up to 15 percent of Michigan's energy could come from renewable sources.

While the greatest potential source for alternative energy is wind, Anderson said, bioenergy research also shows great promise. "There are a lot of things that are currently in the process for biomass," Anderson said. "I do believe that it is a direction we need to be moving in."

Bioenergy, which contains energy stored from the sun, comes from plant and animal byproducts like garbage, crops, manure and wood. Cellulosic bioenergy comes from plants like willow and switchgrass, a prairie grass, that aren't used in food production.

TheBioenergySite News Desk

Sign up for our
regular news updates

Latest Bioenergy Industry News

•   AgFeed to Open 900th Premix Distribution Chain
•   WELtec Begin Construction of World‘s Largest Biogas Plant
•   Manure Making a Comeback
•   Chicken Manure to Power 90,000 Homes
•   Stinkweed Comes to the Rescue
•   VeraSun Announces Iowa Ethanol Plant Startup
•   Delaware Considers Offshore Wind Farm by 2012
•   Corn For Biodiesel Done Away With
•   DuPont Launches Photovoltaic Solutions Business
•   Biomass Plant Running on Chicken Manure Online