[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 260 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 260

   To authorize the Secretary of Energy to make loan guarantees for 
         cellulosic ethanol production technology development.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 7, 2009

   Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas introduced the following bill; which was 
 referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to 
      the Committee on Science and Technology, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
  of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
                               concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To authorize the Secretary of Energy to make loan guarantees for 
         cellulosic ethanol production technology development.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``21st Century Energy Independence Act 
of 2009''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Energy Information Administration estimates that 
        the United States imports nearly 60 percent of the oil it 
        consumes.
            (2) The world's greatest petroleum reserves reside in 
        regions of high geopolitical risk, 57 percent of which are in 
        the Persian Gulf.
            (3) Replacing oil imports with domestic alternatives such 
        as traditional and cellulosic ethanol can not only help reduce 
        the $180,000,000,000 that oil contributes to our annual trade 
        deficit, it can end our addiction to foreign oil.
            (4) According to the Department of Agriculture, biomass can 
        displace 30 percent of our Nation's petroleum consumption.
            (5) Along with traditional production of ethanol from corn, 
        cellulosic ethanol can be produced domestically from a variety 
        of feedstocks, including switchgrass, corn stalks, and 
        municipal solid wastes, which are available throughout our 
        Nation.
            (6) Cellulosic ethanol also relies on its own byproducts to 
        fuel the refining process, yielding a positive energy balance.
            (7) Even though the potential production of traditional 
        corn-based ethanol is about 10,000,000,000 gallons per year, 
        the potential production of cellulosic ethanol is estimated to 
        be 60,000,000,000 gallons per year.
            (8) In addition to ensuring access to more abundant sources 
        of energy, replacing petroleum use with ethanol will help 
        reduce United States carbon emissions, which are otherwise 
        expected to increase by 80 percent by 2025.
            (9) Cellulosic ethanol can also reduce greenhouse gas 
        emissions by 87 percent.
            (10) Facilitating the transition from foreign oil to 
        ethanol will protect our environment from dangerous carbon and 
        greenhouse gas emissions.
            (11) Cellulosic ethanol technology requires initial 
        governmental investment and policy support to achieve the 
        necessary scale to become self-sufficient and gain market-
        penetrating capacity.

SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

    In carrying out this Act, the Secretary of Energy (in this Act 
referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall seek to ensure the availability 
of 200 percent of the volume of renewable fuels required to be 
available in the United States by 2013 under the Energy Policy Act of 
2005, and to ensure the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions from the 
production and use of renewable fuels by 25 percent.

SEC. 4. LOAN GUARANTEE PROGRAM.

    The Secretary shall establish a program for making loan guarantees 
for up to 80 percent of the cost of a project, consistent with section 
3, for--
            (1) up to 5 projects for the harvesting, storing, and 
        delivery of agriculture residues for use in cellulosic or 
        traditional ethanol production plants;
            (2) cellulosic ethanol production technologies that will 
        reduce the initial capital cost to $2.50 per annual gallon, and 
        reduce operation and maintenance costs to 125 percent of those 
        at traditional corn ethanol plants;
            (3) advanced biomass gasifiers that can provide at least 90 
        percent of the thermal input requirements for traditional 
        ethanol plants to produce syngas; and
            (4) appropriately scaled catalytic conversion process (such 
        as Fischer-Tropsch) projects to convert syngas to liquid fuels 
        with the potential for economic conversion at facilities 
        producing 100,000,000 annual gallons, with projects colocated 
        at ethanol facilities already using advanced gasifiers given 
        priority.

SEC. 5. LIMITATIONS.

    The Secretary shall make a loan guarantee under section 4(1)--
            (1) for a traditional ethanol plant only if the agriculture 
        residue products are used as feedstock to replace thermal input 
        requirements otherwise provided by fossil fuels such as natural 
        gas or coal; and
            (2) for an existing ethanol plant only if the applicant 
        demonstrates the potential to reduce carbon dioxide emissions 
        related to ethanol production by at least 75 percent.

SEC. 6. GRANTS.

    The Secretary may additionally provide grants for projects 
described in section 4(2) for up to 50 percent of the capital costs of 
the initial commercialization projects.

SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary for 
carrying out this Act, $250,000,000.
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