Capital Press proclaims the promise of biofuel

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An article in the agribusiness newspaper Capital Press about how much money is being spent on research around California to develop alternatives to fossil fuels was picked up from a UC ANR news release touting the most recent issue of California Agriculture journal.

Writer Tim Hearden's story, however, refers in the third paragraph to "the study," when in fact the release reported that more than two-thirds of a billion dollars coming from corporate and government sources are funding dozens of studies taking place at five research locations, according to Janet Byron, managing editor of California Agriculture.

"I'm grateful for the Capital Press story, but it's interesting to see how our material was used," Bryon said.

Also somewhat perplexing was Hearden's use of quotes from UC Davis news service public information representative Sylvia Wright. I tried to contact Wright to find out how the interview came about, but she is not available today.

Much of Hearden's material came directly from the release, so his story serves as another avenue for spreading word about UC research efforts to build better biofuels and help California reach its ambitious goal of a 10 percent reduction in greenhouse gases by 2020.

California farmers, forests and landscapes could produce 30 million tons of renewable biomass for electricity generation, biofuels and industrial processing, the equivalent of 2 billion gallons of gasoline annually, according to Bryan Jenkins, director of the UC Davis Energy Institute.