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Obama 'Pumps Up' Crowd in Miami about Alternatives to Pricey Gasoline

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February 27, 2012

Obama 'Pumps Up' Crowd in Miami about Alternatives to Pricey Gasoline

By Cheryl Kaften
TMCnet Contributor

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President Barack Obama took the stage at the University of Miami last week to announce – and drum up support for – a new $14 million Department of Energy program geared to stabilize oil prices by funding the development of biofuel made from algae. In addition, he heralded a new $30 million DOE initiative that will bring together the nation’s best and brightest to find ways to harness America’s abundant supplies of domestic natural gas for use in vehicles.


Preaching to an audience of students, academics, and Democratic supporters on February 23, President Obama addressed a problem of major concern to most Americans – the rising price of gasoline. He predicted that his Republican rivals would provide a kneejerk response to the financial pain constituents are feeling, echoing their 2008 convention battle cry, “Drill, baby, drill!” However, the President scoffed, “They know that’s not a plan…That’s a bumper sticker.”

Noting that, to date, the United States has been “at the mercy of…world events” when it comes to nearly unavoidable spikes in oil prices, he pushed for “a sustained, all-of-the-above strategy that develops every available source of American energy.

“Yes,” Obama said, “oil and gas [remain essential], but also wind and solar and nuclear and biofuels, and more.”

Although the country cannot transition completely away from oil and gasoline in the near future – and, in fact, the Obama Administration is “producing more oil today than at any time in the last eight years” –the president warned that the United States needs, “to keep developing the technology that allows us to use less oil in our cars and trucks; less energy for our buildings, and our plants and our factories,” adding, “That’s the strategy we’re pursuing. And that’s the only real solution to this challenge.”

He exhorted his audience, “We’ve got to develop new technology that helps us use less energy, and use energy smarter. We’ve got to rely on American know-how and young engineers right here at the [University of Miami] who are focused on energy. That is our future. And that’s exactly the path that my administration has been trying to take these past three years. ”

He said that the national has made an excellent start, “and we’re making progress. That’s the good news. In 2010, our dependence on foreign oil was under 50 percent for the first time in over a decade.  We were less reliant on foreign oil than we had been. In 2011, the United States relied less on foreign oil than in any of the last 16 years. That’s the good news. And because of the investments we’ve made, the use of clean, renewable energy in this country has nearly doubled – and thousands of American jobs have been created as a consequence.”

In ending, the president rallied support around two major new investments in alternative technologies:
 

  • Nature gas as fuel for transportation: “We’re launching a [$30 million] program that will bring together the nation’s best scientists and engineers and entrepreneurs to figure out how more cars can be powered by natural gas, a fuel that’s cleaner and cheaper,” he said, adding
  • Biofuels: “We’re making [$14 million in] new investments in the development of gasoline and diesel and jet fuel that’s actually made from a plant-like substance — algae…If we can figure out how to make energy out of that, we’ll be doing all right.”


Concurrently, the Department of Energy released a formal statement on both the nature gas and biofuel initiatives. The DOE announced that, through its Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E), it will make $30 million available for a new research competition in the coming months that will engage scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs in finding ways to harness America’s abundant supplies of domestic natural gas for vehicles.

“As President Obama made clear in his State of the Union address, in order to build a strong economy and reduce our dependence on foreign oil, we must invest in developing American energy sources like natural gas and biofuels,” said Energy Secretary Steven Chu. “Through the new programs announced today, we can help revolutionize the way Americans fuel their cars, saving money for families and businesses while building new industries here in the United States.

The Energy Department’s $14 million program to develop transportation fuels from algae builds on an administration-wide commitment to biofuels research, development, and demonstration that includes support for the construction of commercial-scale, next-generation biorefineries. Part of the department’s sustained investment in biofuels technologies focuses on unlocking the potential for homegrown transportation fuels from algae, which have the potential to replace up to 17 percent of the United States’ imported oil for transportation.

 In addition, algae feedstocks offer additional benefits, such as an ability to be grown in ponds near industrial facilities where algae can feed off the carbon emissions from power plants; or digest nitrogen and phosphorous from municipal waste water. The DOE currently is supporting more than 30 algae-based biofuels projects, representing $85 million in total investments.

The competitively selected projects will receive up to $14.3 million in fiscal year 2012 funds, with an additional $6.7 million available in fiscal year 2014 funding, subject to Congressional appropriations, for projects that meet rigorous performance criteria. Applications are due on April 18, 2012. For more information and application requirements, visit the Funding Opportunity Exchange website.

The administration plan was not acclaimed by all sectors. “Despite President Obama’s rhetoric, this administration has done little to address our nation’s growing energy crisis,” Representative Fred Upton, a Michigan Republican and chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said in a statement. “What we need is less regulation and more access to secure supplies.” 




Edited by Jennifer Russell

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