12/30/08 WSU report says best biofuels policy is to focus on biomass

Washington Ag December 30, 2008 If the state of Washington wants to promote a biofuels market it should focus public policy primarily on fostering markets to use existing biomass, rather than trying to make traditional biofuel crops like corn and canola competitive. That's what a report to the state legislature from the Washington State University School of Economic Sciences says. Professor Jonathan Yoder headed up that WSU economic team. Yoder: "We are talking about cellulosic ethanol and any other kind of biomass-based, cellulosic-based fuels that might come down the pike. The state has a relatively large capacity for producing biomass out of forest resources as well as municipal solid waste and also some crop residues." One of the report's recommendation's is for the state to consider a progressive tax on petroleum fuel carbon emissions to fund research and development for the biofuels market. Yoder: "What needs to happen is the development in fact of protocols for measuring life cycle greenhouse gas emission and using those protocols then as the foundation for taxes and tax credits." I'm Bob Hoff.