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I: Introduction and Overview
Pages 1-4

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From page 1...
... Organized by a steering committee, the workshop was attended by approximately 75 people representing academia, state government, nongovern mental organizations, the business sector, and federal agencies. It was organized around the following topics: policy drivers for the expansion of biofuels; the state of biofuel technologies; the economic, environmental, and social dimensions of sustainability, as related to biofuels; the business of biofuels; tools and indicators for decision makers; and ongoing research related to biofuels and sustainability.
From page 2...
... 2 The worldwide economic recession and lower prices for petroleum have slowed the expansion of the industry, but because of strong state and federal mandates, production is expected to grow until production capacity reaches the federally mandated 36 billion gallons of biofuel in 2022.3 While energy prices, energy security, and climate change are front and center in the national media, these issues are often framed to the exclusion of the broader issue of sustainability -- ensuring that the production and use of biofuels do not compromise the needs of future generations by recognizing the need to protect life-support systems, promote economic growth, and improve societal welfare. Thus, it is important to understand the effects of biofuel production and use on water quality and quantity, soils, wildlife habitat and biodiversity, greenhouse gas emissions, air quality, public health, and the economic viability of rural communities.4 Although corn-based ethanol is likely to continue to be a major contributor to U.S.
From page 3...
... Data from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory suggest that approximately 75,000 tons of biomass resources could be available annually from these three states -- almost one-quarter of total U.S. biomass resources.9 The workshop was designed to draw on the expertise of researchers and policy makers in the three-state region to better understand these local impacts and the challenges faced by state policy makers, while at the same time recogniz ing the need to also consider the broader national and global impacts, including impacts on world food supplies.
From page 4...
... Chapter 5 provides a perspective on issues to be addressed as part of the transition to advanced biofuels, including federal policy, research needs, and tools and indicators needed by decision makers to assess the conse quences and tradeoffs of expanding production and use. The report appendixes include the workshop agenda, brief biographies of workshop speakers, a selected bibliography of reports and papers addressing issues of biofuels and sustainability, a background paper describing the biofuels policies in the three Upper Midwest states, and a paper on tools and indicators used to assess various aspects of biofuel production and use.


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