代替燃料としてのエタノール

NIKKEI NET：主要 ガソリン代替燃料のエタノール、国際価格が高騰

　一般教書演説で中東原油への依存を軽減することと同時に、ガソリン代替燃料として挙げられたエタノールの国際価格が高い水準で推移しています。内外で投資対象としても注目されているようです。
　エタノールの利用を積極的に推進している代表的な国はBRICsの一つブラジル。日本では、アサヒビール等複数の企業がバイオエタノールの生産、研究で先行しています。バイオエタノール製造プラントでは三井造船、月島機械など。

　2006年一般教書演説
　http://www.whitehouse.gov/stateoftheunion/2006/index.html

Keeping America competitive requires affordable energy. And here we have a serious problem: America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world. The best way to break this addiction is through technology. Since 2001, we have spent nearly $10 billion to develop cleaner, cheaper, and more reliable alternative energy sources -- and we are on the threshold of incredible advances.

So tonight, I announce the Advanced Energy Initiative -- a 22-percent increase in clean-energy research -- at the Department of Energy, to push for breakthroughs in two vital areas. To change how we power our homes and offices, we will invest more in zero-emission coal-fired plants, revolutionary solar and wind technologies, and clean, safe nuclear energy.

We must also change how we power our automobiles. We will increase our research in better batteries for hybrid and electric cars, and in pollution-free cars that run on hydrogen. We'll also fund additional research in cutting-edge methods of producing ethanol, not just from corn, but from wood chips and stalks, or switch grass. Our goal is to make this new kind of ethanol practical and competitive within six years.

Breakthroughs on this and other new technologies will help us reach another great goal: to replace more than 75 percent of our oil imports from the Middle East by 2025. By applying the talent and technology of America, this country can dramatically improve our environment, move beyond a petroleum-based economy, and make our dependence on Middle Eastern oil a thing of the past.

（2006年一般教書演説から関連部分の引用、applauseの記載は省略）