California Wants Biofuels Production to Be Within the State

With a stroke of the pen, Gov. Schwarzenegger signed an executive order (S-06-06) that establishes in-state production goals for ethanol - from 5 percent today to 75 percent by 2050. The order also requires in-state biomass electricity to meet 20 percent of the state's renewable energy requirements in the coming years.

California currently uses more than 900 million gallons of ethanol annually, but only 5 percent is produced in the state. According to the executive order, the new goals are to produce 20 percent of the state's biofuels within the state by 2010, increasing to 40 percent by 2020 and 75 percent by 2050.

The new goals were part of recommendations in a recent policy report, Bioenergy Action Plan for California, issued by the California Energy Commission (CEC). The CEC report indicates that biofuels used for transportation in California will increase to 1.2 billion gallons by 2010 and at least 2 billion gallons per year by 2020. To meet the new in-state targets will require at least 800 million gallons of in-state ethanol production by 2020.

The new biomass electricity goals will require approximately 1,450 MW of new biomass capacity by 2020. The CEC assumes that 350 MW of landfill gas and biogas projects and 1,100 MW of solid biomass capacity will be installed by 2020 to meet this goal.

More

• Full Text of Gov. Schwarzenegger's Executive order (S-06-06) - issued April 25, 2006
• Recommendations for a Bioenergy Action Plan for California - Final Working Group Report, California Energy Commission, April 10, 2006 [more backgroundhere]