It is clearly in our national interest to free ourselves of our dependence on foreign oil. Everyone fully understands the importance of this issue. It impacts our safety and security. It affects our well-being and our wallets. If conducted correctly, the next generation energy source will not only free us of our dependence on foreign oil. It just might stimulate the local economy as well.
All the politicians are talking a lot about various solutions, trying to sound like energy experts themselves. The rhetoric sounds nice, but I believe energy policy is a complex science best left to scientists and not politicians. On a positive note, the scientists are already on the mission and, even better, they're doing it right here in Maine. It is fitting with Maine’s reputation as a leader in environmental protection that we should be attracting alternative energy investors to our own green forests of opportunity. We actually are!
Because of our rich legacy in the timber industry, Maine is well positioned to take the lead in the development of a next-generation energy source. One of our own esteemed professors is already taking that lead. One of the challenges with generating energy from corn is that it expends twice as much energy as it produces. There is also the negative impact that using all that corn to run cars will have on the food chain. As popular as it may currently be, ethanol from corn is apparently not very cost-efficient.
The same problem is not true of the sort of ethanol extracted from wood, called Cellulosic Ethanol. As I said, one our own professors at the University of Maine is leading the way. Dr. Hemant Pendse is actually attracting a great deal of private equity investment! In other words, lenders are willing to give him money to continue his research. It is critically important as his research continues that Maine foster an environment that will attract and retain the sort of industry that will surely follow. Imagine Maine’s new industry - supplying the world with a clean, alternative energy source while employing our young people.
Read more in the documentation below ( Pdfs will open in new browser window )
Investing in Maine Research Infrastructure: Sustainable Forest Bioproducts (PDF)
Advancing 21st Century Forest Based Economy through (FBR) Forest Bioproducts Research (PDF)
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