Michigan Can Lead Bio Fuel/Bio Mass Development
Notwithstanding the recent dramatic moves toward electric and electric hybrid automobiles, for the foreseeable future there will continue to be a high demand for liquid transportation fuels for automobiles, planes, boats, and trains. Moreover, notwithstanding the efforts going into wind and solar energy, the one alternative energy resource that makes economic sense right now, without subsidies, is biomass. Michigan, whose agricultural sector is its second largest industry at $63 billion annually and with a first class agricultural research institution in Michigan State University, is well positioned to respond to these realities. Converting biomass to electrical energy, heat, transportation fuels, and chemical feedstock for industry is already the goal of research being conducted in Michigan public and private laboratories. Imaginative and innovative projects are revealed almost daily. This effort must be continued, and enhanced, through both private and public research and development efforts. We need to improve yield and energy density of crops and improve conversion technology to reduce dependence on foreign oil and renewable fuels in order to move toward energy security and carbon neutrality.
