W. W. Wilhelm, USDA-ARS, 117 Keim Hall, PO Box 830934, Lincoln, NE 68583-0934, Steven Fales, 1563 Agronomy Hall, Iowa State University, Iowa State University, Department of Agronomy, Ames, IA 50011-1010, and J. Richard Hess, Idaho Natl. Engineering Lab, Idaho National Engrg. & Envl. Lab., PO Box 1625 MS 2210, Idaho Falls, ID 83415-2210.
Global energy demand is increasing as known global supplies are decreasing. Calls to supplement the current fossil-based energy system with new environmentally and economically sustainable strategies are reaching a crescendo. Governmental agencies and industry working groups have set aggressive targets and timelines for decreasing fossil fuel consumption by substituting biomass-based energy. Significant and immediate national investments and policy changes are needed to address factors limiting the production and efficient use of cellulosic as a fuel feedstock. Current biomass production capacity is not known; expansion of NASS databases to include crop biomass reports will assist producers and the energy industry in developing realistic supply estimates. Progressive agronomic systems incorporating advanced germplasm with revolutionary physiology and biochemistry need to be created and deployed. These systems must vastly increase capture and efficient use of light energy, carbon dioxide, and other crop production inputs to sustainably produce, on an annual basis, the projected one billion tons of feedstock the industry will demand by 2030, without reducing the capacity to meet the demand for food and feed. An efficient and economical supply system must be developed to create sufficient profit from the sale of ethanol and other products to equitably compensate feedstock producers and all others in the manufacturing chain. Lastly, education programs must be developed to generate the pool of scientists, engineers, businessmen, and employees to create, design, operate, and work in the new bioenergy based economy.
