Alternate Fuels a Must for National Security (Editorial)

One good thing to come out of the steep increase in gas prices is that it has focused attention once again on renewable sources of energy.
A joint report recently by the Worldwatch Institute and the Center for American Progress said renewable resources now provided just more than 6 percent of total U.S. energy.
But that figure could — and should — increase rapidly in the years ahead if American wants to remain secure and not vulnerable to being hostage to oil.
Much of the rapid growth in new technologies that will use renewable resources are, or soon will be, economically competitive with fossil fuels, the report said.
One has only to look at the recent proliferation of biofuel plants in Arkansas to see that the time is here for the United States to continue to seek new alternatives and encourage the production and use of alternative sources of energy.
Nationwide biodiesel production has expanded four-fold since 2000, and Arkansas has the potential to be a leader in the field.
It’s a given that energy use in America will increase and that the United States is far too dependent on foreign oil.
Arkansas has incentives to boost biofuel production, but the country will need more than just biofuels.
Although the United States has some of the best renewable energy resources in the world, none has received the support that alternatives in other nations have because petroleum products have been cheaper here than in most countries.
More must be done to encourage alternative energies — such as research into the conversion of agricultural and forest waste, even municipal solid waste, into biomass for fuels.
Arkansas certainly has plenty of all those resources.
Also needed are local, state and national policies to support and fostergrowth of these alternative energy sources.