“. . . with the right combination of policies and technological breakthroughs, cellulosic ethanol and other biomass fuels used in combination with a doubling of fuel economy and a cut in the growth in travel demand could conceivably reduce our gasoline demand to near-zero in about 50 years, without sizable interference in food crop production. To do this, we would need to significantly increase fuel economy standards for all vehicles, adopt smart growth policies to reduce travel demand, more than double the amount of usable biomass that can be grown on an acre of land, and more than double the number of gallons of biofuel that can be produced from that biomass. In the long term, biofuels could be a significant part of the solution but, in the near term, much greater reductions in oil demand would be realized through greater fuel economy.”

There have also been concerns that trying to completely switch to an E85 ethanol mix would require the entire national grain supply. Whether this has any credence or not, I’m unsure – I don’t recall seeing any scientific evidence that supports this. But E85 itself isn’t really enough.

“. . . with the right combination of policies and technological breakthroughs, cellulosic ethanol and other biomass fuels used in combination with a doubling of fuel economy and a cut in the growth in travel demand could conceivably reduce our gasoline demand to near-zero in about 50 years, without sizable interference in food crop production. To do this, we would need to significantly increase fuel economy standards for all vehicles, adopt smart growth policies to reduce travel demand, more than double the amount of usable biomass that can be grown on an acre of land, and more than double the number of gallons of biofuel that can be produced from that biomass. In the long term, biofuels could be a significant part of the solution but, in the near term, much greater reductions in oil demand would be realized through greater fuel economy.”

There have also been concerns that trying to completely switch to an E85 ethanol mix would require the entire national grain supply. Whether this has any credence or not, I’m unsure – I don’t recall seeing any scientific evidence that supports this. But E85 itself isn’t really enough.

I admit, when I read opinion and your subsequent discussion Peter, I thought this.

So here is my response: the time to develop new technologies never goes away. However, the time is now to start implementing them. Lets create an expansive E85 network of stations, generate more of our electricity from renewable sources with today’s technologies, and keep thinking for tomorrow. And lets stop thinking about more oil.

I admit, when I read opinion and your subsequent discussion Peter, I thought this.

So here is my response: the time to develop new technologies never goes away. However, the time is now to start implementing them. Lets create an expansive E85 network of stations, generate more of our electricity from renewable sources with today’s technologies, and keep thinking for tomorrow. And lets stop thinking about more oil.