Agriculture Department Undersecretary Tom Dorr told attendees at the Harvesting Clean Energy Conference that the “new energy economy”, as he calls it, is bringing new opportunities for people in rural America.
Dorr told a lunchtime crowd that the trends in the U-S energy industry are clear: both ethanol production and the amount of power created by wind have increased in the last few years.
“Ethanol, wind and biodiesel are getting close to viability without, without subsidies,” he said. “That is, close to full commercialization, and that’s our goal. And we, in fact, are investing to achieve that.”
Dorr says the federal government is providing hundreds of millions of dollars to researchers and investors who are developing new energy sources.
Meanwhile, in the Washington legislature, lawmakers are considering several bills that aim to create demand for biodiesel and provide incentives for farmers to grow the crops needed to make alternative fuels.
But it was clear at the conference that at least a few farmers still aren’t convinced. Some at a workshop on biofuels were wary about switching from their traditional grains because they worry they won’t make money growing the new crops. Others believe that if a lot of farmers jump on the alternative crop bandwagon, they’ll glut the market and drive down prices.