‘To teach is to learn twice.’ The timeless truth of that apt aphorism by Joseph Joubert has been much on my mind and deep in my heart recently, as
Congress passed an energy bill that focused more attention on controversial fuel economy standards for the nation’s automotive fleet.
Slipping in under the radar was another major provision that requires 36 billion gallons of renewable fuel to be produced by 2022. Of that, 21 billion must be from advanced biofuel ‘ not from corn, in other words ‘ and 16 billion of that amount must be cellulosic biofuel.
Hello, Grassoline.
That’s the University of Tennessee’s trademarked name for a product under development that could provide a major boost to agriculture in Tennessee.
UT is in the process of contracting with farmers to grow about 8,000 acres of switchgrass over the next three years for its new $40.7 million biofuels plant in East Tennessee.
Tennessee corn growers, of course, also stand to gain from passage of the energy bill, which mandates an increase in corn-based ethanol production by 15 billion gallons a year.
Alternative fuels are all very much in the early stages of development, with questions still being raised about large-scale corn-based ethanol production’s effect on food prices.
In Tennessee, the transition is seen as a potential boon to the economy. The Grassoline plant in Monroe County is expected to be operating by 2009.
Tennessee also is playing a national role in the development of biofuels at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where a $125 million Bioenergy Research Center is being developed.
It’s far from a sure bet, but it is reassuring to know that at Oak Ridge some of the country’s most talented scientists are on the case. Grassoline could produce a win-win situation for both the nation and the state.