Biofuel Initiative to Be Announced Monday

By Jim O'Sullivan
03:22PM / Sunday, November 04, 2007

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State House News Service

BOSTON - State leaders are preparing to announce a major effort to lure biofuel companies, focusing on incentives for the production of non-corn-based ethanol.

Expected to be announced Monday, the proposal seeks to encourage biofuel investment by stimulating demand. Officials are hoping the plan can reap environmental benefits while nurturing an industry that capitalizes on in-state natural resources.

Gov. Deval Patrick said last week that the plan will pursue cellulosic ethanol, a non-corn-based biofuel, using resources the state can rely on, including cranberries, algae and switchgrass.

"The idea is to try to make a more robust market for alternative fuels, and really set a benchmark for how we might approach this as a nation, particularly cellulosic ethanol," Patrick told the News Service.

The plan leans on a study commissioned by U.S. Rep. William Delahunt's office that finds Massachusetts poised to host an industry on the rise as concerns about climate change and oil dependence increase.

Last week, Senate President Therese Murray said the biofuels effort would reduce reliance on imported oil and encourage the use of fuel blended from agricultural sources.

"We all have to recognize that Massachusetts is simply not going to be a major producer of corn in this country, especially when compared to the states in the Midwest and Great Plains. Massachusetts does, however, have a number of plentiful agricultural sources for the next generation of biofuels," including wood chips, cranberries and algae, Murray said during a speech to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce.

A number of companies have already started commercializing research in the conversion of agricultural products into fuel, and earlier this month a group of clean-tech associations coalesced to form the New England Clean Energy Council, a group expected to push for tax incentives and advanced renewable portfolio standards.

In July, Delahunt met on Beacon Hill with top lawmakers and Patrick aides, discussing the importance of biodiesel as a way to ease the need for foreign oil, which many say compromises U.S. foreign policy. During a meeting in House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi's office, they discussed incentives like infrastructure improvements. Later, DiMasi said the state would focus "some on the production side and some on the refinery side."

A DiMasi spokesman said the biofuel effort was "a natural offshoot" of DiMasi's energy reform bill, which lawmakers say could emerge from committee next week.

With employment rates that still trail the national recovery, Massachusetts policymakers are aggressively pursing "new economy" sectors like stem-cell research and biofuel development as new job generators. A biotechnology caucus has formed in the Legislature, and Patrick and lawmakers have repeatedly entreated that industry to press its case on the Hill.

A spokesman for Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles declined comment.

With the Patrick administration's emphasis on clean energy, biofuel appears ripe for attention. Struggling cranberry growers could see a new market for the crops grown widely in southeastern Massachusetts.

"Our belief is that there's lots of ways to launch bold energy legislation which helps to create a strong market for both clean energy generation and the companies that develop technologies that enable clean energy generation," said Nick d'Arbeloff, co-executive director of the New England Clean Energy Council.

Under an executive order Patrick signed earlier this year, starting with the winter of 2007-2008, the state will use bio-heat products with a minimum blend of 3 percent bio-based materials for all heating applications that use No. 2 fuel, and 10 percent bio-heat blend by 2012.

State House sources said an announcement was originally scheduled for last week, but was pushed back after the Red Sox won the World Series.