So biofuels are going to be a major piece of the U.S. renewable energy puzzle. Now we just need to find a way to make it sustainable. At a WIREC 2008 panel on this issue, I was able to get every perspective, from federal and state government to advocacy groups and international organizations. At times, the end result seemed to be a mish-mash of 18 point standards, regulations, and phased approaches. While the road maps differed, the one thing all the participants had in common was a desire to make biofuels work for farmers, countries, and the environment. It just isn't clear exactly how it all comes together.

The first panelist, Michael Totten of Conservation International, made the case that we've wasted the past 25 years of opportunity to make transportation efficiency gains and says grid-powered cars are the name of the game. He argued that even cellulosic ethanol would occupy too much land area to be feasible, saying that 800 million hectares of additional land would be needed to support even medium biofuels growth. Instead, he recommends plug-in hybrids as the solution, saying that today's electric grid has enough excess capacity to fuel 80% of the country's light duty vehicles, with a reduction in CO2 emissions from transportation of 50%.

25x'25 may be emerging as the biggest dog in this fight. Their vision is to provide 25% of the total energy consumed in the U.S. from by 2025. No easy task, considering that energy demand is expected to grow by 24% in that time frame. 25x'25 has been able to garner big-name support with the backing of 28 governors, 12 legislatures and let's not forget, the U.S. Congress. In December, the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) made this goal a national priority.

25x'25 is selling its policy not as an environmental challenge, but an economy booster. Project coordinator Ernie Shea predicts that "by using biomass in a sustainable way we can increase the economy by $700 billion per year." To ensure that all this growth is sustainable, 25x'25 recommends a number of initiatives, including adding incentives for green biomass practices to the 2007 farm bill and private-sector "green tags" that would certify sustainably-produced renewable energy.

Meanwhile, some states are taking action on their own. The Re-Invest in Minnesota Clean Energy (RIM-CE) program provides funds to mitigate risk to biomass farmers and funds the acquisition of 20 year easements for growing biofuels in exchange for adhering to a set of environmental standards. Established by the Minnesota State Legislature, the program is built to support what they call "working lands" that produce native perennial biofuels and enhance the water and soil quality, enhance wildlife habitat and create other environmental benefits.

Carol Warner, Executive Director of the Environmental Energy and Study Institute, gave the audience a breakdown of the government's commitment to 36 billion gallons of ethanol by 2022 promised by the EISA bill. Fifteen billion of that would come from corn ethanol, 21 billion from advanced biofuels. Warner said that the bill provides some sustainability provisions. The biofuels can only come from pre-cleared land and there are limits on fuel sources from slashing and thinning on federal lands. Still, she points out that regional and state by state assessment provisions are not included and believes there are still not enough safeguards for private lands.

On the international scene, the Global Environment Facility is having its own difficulties establishing environmental standards for biofuels. Developing countries are realizing that there's money to be made by growing biomass. The problem is that the trade-offs for food, environmental quality, and long-term viability are not always understood. As GEF, an international environmental funding organization, began to support projects aimed at biomass production, it wanted to ensure that the feedstocks were being grown sustainably. However, beneficiary governments wanted nothing to do with the environmental standards and requirements GEF proposed. GEF has since shifted its policies toward education and outreach. GEF's Secretariat, Andrea Kutter, says, "these countries need to know what the trade-offs are, what they are getting and what they are not."

While standards for biomass production are clearly going through some growing pains, I found the dialogue and the diversity of idea encouraging. As one panelist said, "It's a tough nut to crack, but it has to be cracked."