The Vision establishes challenging, yet feasible long-term objectives for integrating sustainable, competitive biomass technologies into our nation's economy. It states that,

"By 2030, a well-established, economically viable, bioenergy and biobased products industry will create new economic opportunities for rural America, protect and enhance our environment, strengthen U.S. energy independence, provide economic security, and deliver improved products to consumers."

The Vision also identifies specific near-term, mid-term, and long-term goals to be achieved by the years 2010, 2020, and 2030, respectively. The following are the Vision's long-term goals, set to be completed by 2030:

• Increase biomass consumption for power to 5% of electricity and heat demand in utilities and industry in 2030
  
  
• Increase biomass-derived transportation fuels from the current 0.5 percent of U.S. transportation fuel consumption to 20% in 2030
  
  
• Increase production of chemicals and materials from biobased products from the current 5% of target U.S. chemical commodities to 25% in 2030
  

A full copy of the Vision is available at www.bioproducts-bioenergy.gov. The event in Edwardsville was also used to announce the award of several new integrated biomass R&D efforts that will help to pave the way in achieving Vision goals. In response to the President's National Energy Plan in May 2001, EERE reviewed its R&D programs and concluded that its biomass R&D should primarily focus on concepts that would integrate the production of biomass derived fuels and other products into industrial biorefineries that are economical and sustainable. Thus, in April of this year, EERE issued an Integrated Biomass Solicitation, seeking proposals on research and development in cellulosic conversion and biobased products. One hundred and ninety pre-proposals were received in response to the solicitation and, of the twenty-three full proposals submitted, six winning proposals were chosen. These six teams, composed of non-profit groups, industry, and national laboratories, will engage in innovative biorefinery projects. The winners include:

• "Second Generation Dry Mill Biorefinery" - Broin and Associates, Inc. of South Dakota will receive $5.4 million for its four-year project to develop a "Second Generation Dry Mill Biorefinery." The project's goal is to enhance the economics of existing ethanol dry mills by increasing ethanol yields and creating additional co-products. Broin estimates that its process will increase ethanol output at existing plants by approximately 10-20% by 2006.
  
  
• "A New Biorefinery Platform Intermediate" - Cargill, Inc. of Minnesota was awarded $6 million for its three-year project for developing a bio-based technology to produce a wide variety of products based on 3-HP acid, which is produced by the fermentation of carbohydrates.
  
  
• "Integrated Corn-based Bio Refinery (ICBR) Project" - Delaware's E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Inc. (DuPont) won for its proposal to build a bio-based production facility that will convert corn and stover into fermentable sugars for production of value-added chemicals. The team will receive $18.2 million over the four years of the project.
  
  
• "Making Industrial Bio-refining Happen" - Based in Minnesota, Cargill Dow LLC National will receive $45.9 million over the next three years for its winning project. During this time, the team will focus on process and fermentation technologies to develop and validate process technology and sustainable agricultural systems that will economically produce sugars and chemicals such as lactic acid and ethanol. Cargill also plans to give growers and grower organizations the first opportunity to participate in the commercial development of this technology.
  
  
• "Advanced Biorefining of Distiller's Grain and Corn Stover Blends: Pre-Commercialization of a Biomass-Derived Process Technology" - High Plains Corporation, with plants in Kansas, Nebraska and New Mexico, was awarded $17.7 million for their project that focuses on developing a novel biomass-derived process technology. This process technology will utilize advanced biorefined Distiller's Grain (DG) and Corn Stover (CS) blends to achieve significantly higher ethanol yields while maintaining the protein feed value.
  
  
• "Separation of Corn Fiber and Conversion to Fuels and Chemicals Phase II: Pilot-scale Operation" - The National Corn Growers Association, based in Missouri, was awarded $2.4 million in funding for its proposed development of a technically and economically feasible integrated process for recovery of the hemicellulose, protein, and oil components from corn fiber. These materials will subsequently be converted into value-added products.
  

• "Value Added Products from Hemicellulose Utilization in Dry Mill Ethanol Plants" - The Iowa Corn Promotion Board received the USDA's support for its plans to integrate enzymatic hydrolysis, fermentation, and aqueous phase catalysis to produce high-value components from hemicellulose.
  
  
• "Continuous Isosorbide Production from Sorbitol Using Solid Acid Catalysis" - For this project, the Iowa Corn Promotional Board will develop a process to convert sorbitol, from corn wet milling operations, to isosorbide.
  

For more information on the upcoming roadmap and the DOE and USDA biomass research programs, visit our Web site at: www.bioproducts-bioenergy.gov

Duck Manure-Powered Electric Plant to Supply We Energies' Customers
We Energies opened Wisconsin's first fully operational duck-manure-to-energy digester facility. The facility is located at Maple Leaf Farms, the leading duck producer in North America, and produces 200 kilowatts of energy. This energy is purchased by We Energies for distribution throughout its service area. We Energies recently formed a Renewable Energy Collaborative to guide the company in achieving its renewable energy commitment that at least five percent of its retail electric energy sales comes from renewable energy sources by 2011.
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