(1) The Energy Information Administration estimates that the United States imports nearly 60 percent of the oil it consumes.
(2) The world’s greatest petroleum reserves reside in regions of high geopolitical risk, 57 percent of which are in the Persian Gulf.
(3) Replacing oil imports with domestic alternatives such as traditional and cellulosic ethanol can not only help reduce the $180,000,000,000 that oil contributes to our annual trade deficit, it can end our addiction to foreign oil.
(4) According to the Department of Agriculture, biomass can displace 30 percent of our Nation’s petroleum consumption.
(5) Along with traditional production of ethanol from corn, cellulosic ethanol can be produced domestically from a variety of feedstocks, including switchgrass, corn stalks, and municipal solid wastes, which are available throughout our Nation.
(6) Cellulosic ethanol also relies on its own byproducts to fuel the refining process, yielding a positive energy balance.
(7) Even though the potential production of traditional corn-based ethanol is about 10,000,000,000 gallons per year, the potential production of cellulosic ethanol is estimated to be 60,000,000,000 gallons per year.
(8) In addition to ensuring access to more abundant sources of energy, replacing petroleum use with ethanol will help reduce United States carbon emissions, which are otherwise expected to increase by 80 percent by 2025.
(9) Cellulosic ethanol can also reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 87 percent.
(10) Facilitating the transition from foreign oil to ethanol will protect our environment from dangerous carbon and greenhouse gas emissions.
(11) Cellulosic ethanol technology requires initial governmental investment and policy support to achieve the necessary scale to become self-sufficient and gain market-penetrating capacity.
U.S. Congress - Text of H.R.260 as Introduced in House 21st Century Energy Independence Act of 2009
