Associated Press
06-28-07
Iowa misses out on bioenergy research center
DES MOINES (AP) -- The Department of Energy will spend up to $375 million on
bioenergy research centers in California, Tennessee and Wisconsin.
Iowa State University will have a role in the center at the Great Lakes
Bioenergy Research Center in Madison, Wis., but the three sites named will
receive most of the funding.
In announcing the sites Tuesday, U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman noted
that the United States must move beyond its reliance on foreign oil -- and on corn
ethanol as an alternative.
"Corn ethanol has its virtues, but it also has its limits ... " he said. "We need to
learn to make bio fuels cost effectively from cellulose. The investment is high
risk, but we expect they will show us the way to overcome the barriers."
In addition to Madison, the centers will be at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory
in Oak Ridge, Tenn., and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory near
Berkeley, Calif.