KPLU Local News
(2010-02-03)
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The proposals include new loans and grants to kick-start development and production of biofuels with the goal of more than tripling their use by 2022.
John Plaza is president and CEO of Seattle-based Imperium Renewables, the west coast's largest biofuels company. He says it's a big day for Imperium and for the industry as a whole. Plaza says the new rules will help guarantee growing markets for biofuels.
Plaza also points to a new government report that says biofuels - including corn-based ethanol and soy-based biodiesel - are more environmentally benign than some previous research has suggested. The report says both are much greener than petroleum fuels.
The administration also unveiled a new initiative to develop technology that captures the carbon from burning coal and stores it underground so it doesn't add to global warming. K.C. Golden is with the environmental group Climate Solutions. He points out that such technologies have tradeoffs.
"And my early reading of what the administration is doing suggests that they are keen to capture the promise but also aware of the pitfalls."
Golden says it's important to be open to new ways of solving our energy problems. But he says both biofuels and so-called "clean coal" technologies need to be thoroughly evaluated before they're widely used.
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