• Home
  • News
    • Politics / Govt
    • Legislature
    • Crime / Courts
    • Health / Medicine
    • Archives
  • Sports
    • Badgers
    • Packers
      • Titletown Report
    • Brewers
  • Contact Us
    • Reporters
  • Affiliates
    • Affiliate Support

Wisconsin Radio Network

Wisconsin News and Sports

You are here: Home / Environment / Conservation / Energy independence from oil will take time

Energy independence from oil will take time

June 20, 2007 By WRN Contributor

There's good news and bad news in the nation's rush to replace oil with renewable energy.

Philip Madson is a worldwide expert on converting sugars and starches to bio-fuel. He says while there have been technical breakthroughs in ethanol conversion in the past thirty years we, unfortunately, will be relying on petroleum based fuel for the foreseeable future.

Madson, speaking at a bio-fuel conference in Madison, says that doesn't mean we should give up on turning plants into fuel. But he says as fast as the industry is growing nationwide, there will be speed bumps along the way.

As for the current fear of an ethanol glut, Madson says as much as the industry has overbuilt in the past few years, serious retrenchment and dislocations are inevitable. He says it happened in the eighties and nineties and will happen again.

As for individual state goals such as Wisconsin's target of twenty per cent renewable by 2020, Madson says that may be possible because Wisconsin is an agriculture state.

Nationwide he says bio-fuel made from conventional starched-based crops doesn't even account for ten per cent of the country's energy needs.

AUDIO: Jim Dick reports ( 1:00 MP3 )

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Filed Under: Environment / Conservation



Featured Stories

Senate Republicans shut down debate on conversion therapy in Wisconsin

UW Madison based Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center receives funding renewal

Secretary of State La Follette resigns from office, Godlewski named as replacement

Republican proposal to alter 1849 abortion statute won’t advance in Senate

Protasiewicz and Kelly advance in Wisconsin Supreme Court primary

TwitterFacebook

Sports Headlines

Evers’ AmFam funding plan ‘a nonstarter’ with Assembly Republicans

New pitch clock could speed up MLB games this season, says UW expert

Giannis breaks franchise scoring record, Bucks beat Nets in OT

Wisconsin’s Davis declares for NBA Draft

Badgers to face Arizona State in Las Vegas Bowl

More Sports

Tweets by @WRN

Get our news delivered to your inbox:

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Copyright © 2023 · Learfield News & Ag, LLC