Biodiesel takes the lead in biofuel battle -

US president George W Bush's annual speech to Congress on 23 January is likely to call for a massive increase in US ethanol usage and tweak climate change policy, according to sources familiar with White House plans. But they said Bush will not back mandatory emissions caps.
In the 2006 State of the Union address, Bush made the surprise pronouncement that the US is addicted to Middle East crude oil supplies. Since then, both the Bush administration and Congress have shown a rising focus on energy security.
One source briefed by White House officials told Reuters that Bush's speech could call for over 60 billion gallons (227 billion litres) of ethanol to be mixed into US gasoline supplies each year by 2030.
Ethanol is produced from corn, meaning in theory it is carbon neutral, though there is debate on the extent to which it reduces carbon dioxide emissions (see Biodiesel takes the lead in biofuel battle).
Big number
An annual target of 60 billion gallons would be a massive increase from the 7.5 billion gallons (28.4 billion litres) of ethanol use by 2012 required by current US law. "I think it's going to be a big number," the source said on condition of anonymity.
Iowa, which grows more corn than any other US state, is also likely to be a key target for candidates in the upcoming 2008 presidential elections.
The White House on Tuesday confirmed that Bush's speech will outline a policy on global warming but said that, contrary to industry and media speculation, Bush has not dropped his opposition to mandatory limits on greenhouse-gas emissions
"If you're talking about enforceable carbon caps, in terms of industry-wide and nationwide, we knocked that down. That's not something we're talking about," White House spokesman Tony Snow said. The White House has declined to comment on the details of the speech.
Joining forces
Recently, several bills have been introduced in Congress targeting a change in US policy on climate change and energy.
On 12 January, potential presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama joined senator Joe Lieberman in presenting a bill that called for mandatory caps on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, industry and oil refineries (see US presidential race rivals join forces on climate).
And on 4 January, democrat senator for Nevada, Harry Reid, introduced the National Energy and Environment Security Act of 2007, which calls for changes in US energy policy (see US and European politics turning green).
Nonbinding resolution
Democrat Joseph Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and republican senator Richard Lugar of Indiana have also introduced a nonbinding resolution calling for the US to return to international negotiations on climate change.
"It is critical that the international dialogue on climate change and American participation in those discussions move beyond the disputes over the Kyoto Protocols," Lugar said in a statement.
US allies like the UK and Germany have pressed for a new global agreement on climate change to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012. Bush withdrew the US from the protocol in 2001, saying its targets for reducing carbon emissions would unfairly hurt the US economy.
White House officials are known to make last-minute tweaks to the State of the Union address. In 2006, White House political advisors added the "addicted to oil" remarks hours before Bush spoke.