Could biomass fuels ever replace crude?

An important objective of President Bushs energy policy is to cut US reliance on imported crude oil. The policy calls for research to reduce the costs of alternative fuels. In June 2006, the US Department of Commerce commissioned Monash Universitys Centre of Policy Studies (CoPS) to estimate the effects on the US economy of a successful research program that allows substantial replacement of imported crude oil with domestically produced biomass fuels such as ethanol. Peter Dixon and Maureen Rimmer from CoPS joined Stefan Osborne from the US Department of Commerce to illuminate the benefits. Copyright 2007 Peter Dixon, Maureen Rimmer and Stefan Osborne. No part of this article may be reproduced by any means without the written consent of the publisher.