New biofuels to spar with ethanol.

(P. Brasher, 05/09/11, DesMoines Register) What's at stake: Iowa has become the nation's No. 1 ethanol producer, with 40 plants that produce about one-third of the nation's ethanol supply. The industry generates $13 billion to the state's economy and it's contributed heavily to recent increases in commodity prices and farm income. Ethanol accounted for more than one-third of the $1.65 a bushel increase in corn prices that took place between 2006 and 2009, according to a recent Iowa State University study. Iowa's economy depends on agriculture for between 25 and 30 percent of its gross domestic product. WHAT'S CHANGING: NEW FEEDSTOCKS Federal mandates call for the next generation of biofuels to be made from feedstocks other than corn, such as corn cobs, stalks, grasses and wood chips, which don't compete with food uses. Iowa's status in the biofuel industry of the future could change depending on which feedstocks, types of fuel, and conversion processes get used. Ethanol's answer: The industry envisions expanding existing distilleries to process the cobs or stalks as well as the grain. WHO'S CHALLENGING: OIL REFINERS: Oil refiners could become major producers of next-generation biofuels. ConocoPhillips is funding research at Iowa State University into different processes for converting cellulose, or plant matter, into conventional fuels. Refiners and other companies are looking at turning corn stover into another alcohol, called butanol, that doesn't have the same drawbacks as ethanol, or into new versions of gasoline and other conventional fuels. WHAT IOWA HAS TO LOSE: BIOMASS MARKET: Farmers could supply the cobs and stalks needed for ethanol or other biofuels. But collection is a challenge and other biomass sources in other regions could prove more efficient...