Highlighting Biofuels Research CS Publications presents a Virtual Issue on Biofuels, an online compilation among Energy & Fuels, Environmental Science & Technology, and the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry found at http://pubs.acs.org/page/vi/2010/biofuels.html. Featuring peer-reviewed articles published in 2009 and 2010, the research shows progress on utilizing biomass for fuels productionsa hotbed of research with global implications on agricultural, energy, and environmental policy. Editors Jerald L. Schnoor (Environ. Sci. Technol.), James N. Seiber (J. Agric. Food Chem.), and Associate Editor Robert Weber (Energy Fuels) comment on their selection of these articles in editorials appearing in their respective journals and on the Biofuels Web site. As interest in biofeedstocks for energy and material grows, these three journals encourage continued submission of high quality and impactful manuscripts. Note: Papers in the Biofuels Virtual Issue are indicated in the below text both as citations and hyperlinks by digital object identifier (DOI; 10.1021/zzXXXXXXX for all ACS journals) in the HTML version. Readers can use the DOI to locate any ACS article online in two ways:
important problems are those requiring a multidisciplinary approach, institutions hire faculty in targeted subject areas across many departments and colleges with the goal that they will collaborate synergistically together. Likewise, one journal cannot hope to cover all facets associated with a problem like biofuels, so this virtual issue is an experiment to group disparate content, which may stimulate cross-disciplinary research, into one convenient location.
1. the search box at the top right of the ACS journal (and Symposium Series) webpages permits entry of a DOI (e.g., http://pubs.acs.org/). 2. direct your browser to http://dx.doi.org/“DOI”, where “DOI” should be replaced by that in question (zzXXXXXXX) to electronically locate the manuscript.
Under this logic, the U.S. Congress mandated use of biofuels in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA). In EISA, the stated purpose of the act was to “move the United States toward greater energy independence and security, to increase the production of clean renewable fuels, to protect consumers, to increase the efficiency of products, buildings, and vehicles, and to promote research and deploy greenhouse gas capture and storage options, and to improve the energy performance of the Federal Government, and for other purposes.” EPA was called upon to promulgate the rules, i.e., the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2; RFS1 is tied to the Energy Policy Act of 2005), and to oversee the program. It is a massive program considering that we now have about 200 biofuel production facilities in a dozen states representing billions of dollars investment. Similarly, it has spawned a prolific amount of research and hundreds of research articles appearing annually. However, success of the entire program is still uncertain and it faces major economic, political, and technical challenges in the future. For example:
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Biofuels are a big deal as evidenced by the 12 billion gallons of fuel produced this year in the U.S. utilizing 33% of the corn grain and 16% of the soybean harvest. Today, biofuels represent about 10% of all transportation fuel consumed in the nation. The biochemical conversion of corn grain to ethanol transportation fuel is commercially successful, although it has profited from a blending subsidy of $0.45 per gallon and at a taxpayer cost of over $5 billion per year. Biofuels are a big deal, too, for the research journals of the American Chemical Society. While Environmental Science & Technology, Energy & Fuels, and the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry are by no means the only journals publishing research on biofuels, these are the main journals covering the issues at ACS. Biofuels are a hot topic in our journals whether you are interested in growing the feedstock, conversion technologies, or environmental impacts. The purpose of this Virtual Issue is to showcase some of our best articles from 2009 and 2010, chosen by editors of the three journals. It reminds me of the “cluster hiring” approach to faculty recruitment at many universities. Because the most interesting and 8796 9 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY / December 1, 2010
The technical problem at hand is how to best replace imported petroleum. Most imported petroleum is used to make gasoline and diesel for cars and trucks. So solving the problem of excessive dependence on imported oil is largely one of finding a replacement for petroleum-based liquid transportation fuels. Biofuels, grown from domestic crops, would accomplish that goal while improving our balance of payments, strengthening the currency, and presumably lowering our greenhouse gas emissions relative to petroleum-based fuels. In addition, domestic biofuels could provide jobs, income and tax revenues, and contribute to economic security for farmers and rural populations.
• The RFS2 requires an unprecedented amount of cellulosic biofuels by 2022 (16 billion gallons per year) from crops such as switchgrass, corn stover, and woody biomass. But not a single drop of cellulosic biofuel is being produced commercially today, and the remaining technical and economic hurdles are formidable. • Corn ethanol production has achieved 12 billion gallons per year, and it is scheduled to grow to 15 billion gallons 10.1021/es103446k
2010 American Chemical Society
Published on Web 11/11/2010
per year by 2015. But there is no market for future expansion of corn ethanol because we have reached the “blend wall”, meaning the maximum amount of ethanol that can be used in domestic automobiles (nonflexfuel vehicles) has been fulfilled. Without an expansion of the E10 (10% blending) limit in domestic vehicles, there is no need for future ethanol production. • Corn ethanol enjoys a $0.45 per gallon blending subsidy which is subject to expiration at the end of this year and will make corn ethanol much less attractive to producers and blenders. • Serious questions remain regarding the environmental impacts (water, air, soil, and greenhouse gas emissions) of existing biofuels production, particularly from corn grain; and the anticipated environmental benefits of cellulosic biofuels have not yet been proven.
Research articles in the three journals may help to answer some of these questions including optimization of feedstocks, conversion technologies, and production methods. Life cycle assessments (LCAs) are helping to elucidate the trade-offs involved with various biofuels. I hope this virtual issue highlights our content for you and sheds light on some important biofuel research questions.
Jerald L. Schnoor Editor*
[email protected] December 1, 2010 / ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 9 8797
