Energy Secretary Doesn’t See Future for Ethanol, After Billions in Subsidies

"Ethanol is not an ideal transportation fuel," Energy Secretary Stephen Chu told a gathering at the National Press Club in Washington on Monday. Chu said the Energy Department "is much more focused on developing new, commercially-viable transportation technologies -– biomass and sugar, for example -– to make gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. Those won't require changing the transportation infrastructure, including pipelines." Ethanol, a gasoline additive, has received billions of dollars in federal subsidies, as Politico reported on Tuesday...more