FRANKLINTON, N.C. - President George W. Bush arrived by helicopter in rural North Carolina Thursday morning, landing amid cornfields-a fitting setting for his ensuing talk on his new energy initiatives.
Speaking at a warehouse of Novozymes-a Denmark-based biotechnology company that manufactures enzymes that break down biomass into ethanol-the president encouraged finding alternative energy sources to decrease American reliance on foreign oil.
"If you say, we want to reduce our dependence on oil, what you really have to do is change gasoline usage in the United States," Bush said at a panel discussion promoting the energy goals he announced in last month's State of the Union Address.
In January, Bush proposed the "20-in-10" goal, setting a target for the United States to reduce gasoline consumption by 20 percent over the next 10 years. He also mandated a fuel standard to use 35-million gallons of ethanol or other alternative fuel over the same time period.
Although the United States consumes about 7 billion gallons of ethanol derived from corn every year, other biomass resources, including wood chips and stalk grass, are viable materials to convert into ethanol, he said.
"I know it sounds like a pipe dream to some-you know there goes the optimistic president talking again," Bush said. "But the Ph.D.s are providing the brainpower necessary to help plants like this develop technologies that will enable us to convert wood chips into fuels that are running automobiles."
Because the rising price of corn is threatening farmers' commerce, producers should turn to other resources to make ethanol, he added.
"The problem is we have a lot of hog growers around the United States, and a lot of them here in North Carolina, who are beginning to feel the pinch as a result of high corn prices," Bush said. "In other words, the demand for corn, because of agricultural use, and now energy use, is causing corn prices to go up."
By diversifying American energy sources and becoming less dependent on foreign oil, the government can ensure greater national and economic security, he said. The Bush administration has invested about $12 billion in an effort to stimulate new technologies, including clean coal and batteries.
"Someday you're going to be able to get in your car, particularly if you're a big-city person, and drive 40 miles on a battery," he said. "And by the way, the car doesn't have to look like a golf cart. It could be a pickup truck."
Several of the other panelists, who work in biotechnology fields, said that the president's goals were realistic.
"If you look at what's happening now, what's been happening with corn ethanol over the last five years and the developments that are coming in terms of implementation of cellulosic, it's really amazing," said Dr. Kevin Wenger, Novozymes' research and development manager. "Things are finally starting to happen."
Bush spoke to an audience of about 200 special guests and Novozymes employees in his first visit to the Tar Heel state in the new year.
Marc Hargrove, a flow coordinator at Novozymes who attended the discussion, said having the Bush administration's backing would make the vision of generating alternative energy sources a reality.
"When you have the support of the president, that makes it even more real," he said.
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