May 29, 2006—California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently signed an executive order that sets goals for the in-state production of ethanol and other biofuels.
California currently burns more than 900 million gallons of ethanol fuel each year, or nearly a quarter of all the ethanol produced in the US, but only five percent of the ethanol fuel consumed in the state is produced there, explains the order.
California’s 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 biofuels can be developed from specially grown crops such as corn and sugar, or from naturally occurring waste such as rice straw, animal waste, or municipal solid waste.
The order also calls for biomass to provide 20 percent of the electricity generated to meet the state’s renewable power requirements, which Schwarzenegger says “will help fight critical waste disposal and environmental problems, including the risk of wild fires, air pollution from open field burning, and greenhouse gas emissions from landfills.”
To read the full Executive Order # S-06-06, dated April 25, 2006, visit the California Web site.
