Energy and Global Warming News for December 1st: Whales inspire new tidal energy turbine; EPA's tiny cellulosic biofuels mandate for 2011; Seoul goes green

Growth Energy’s Take

“There’s no question that the potential for cellulosic ethanol remains on track,” Growth Energy said in a prepared statement. “That is why it is so important to have real targets to give confidence that there will be a market for those who are investing in the industry. Some of the pilot projects are on the edge of delivering commercial-scale volumes of cellulosic ethanol to the market, for a price that is competitive to gasoline. But not all pilot projects are that close, and that’s in large part because the market for ethanol is capped by arbitrary regulation in the U.S. What’s preventing the growth of cellulosic ethanol in the transportation fuels market is the lack of access to the market – and without that market, we’re not drawing the necessary investment. That’s why Growth Energy is pushing our Fueling Freedom proposal, which would reform market access and let cellulosic ethanol compete with gasoline derived from foreign oil.”