Alternative Fuel News
House Committee Extends Biodiesel Incentive
The U.S. House Ways and Means Committee has approved the Energy and Tax Extenders Act of 2008, a measure that will extend the biodiesel tax incentive through the end of next year and provides a dollar-per-gallon incentive for all biodiesel regardless of feedstock.
Passage in the committee gained the praise of the National Biodiesel Board:
“I would [...]
Senators Pleased With Energy Title of Farm Bill
Two of the main architects of the new Farm Bill are more than thrilled with overwhelming passage of the legislation this week by both the House and Senate.
"Senate passage of the farm bill conference report on a strong, bipartisan basis demonstrates support for core farm bill initiatives – conservation, energy, nutrition and rural development – [...]
Ethanol on Display at Alternative Vehicle Expo
Ethanol was in the spotlight at this week’s Alternative Fuels and Vehicles Conference & Expo in Las Vegas.
The conference featured every vehicle technology under the hot sun on display and several panels and workshops helped to educate and provide information about the various blends of ethanol and especially how they can fit into greener [...]
Biofuels Flying High with Algae
Airbus and JetBlue Airways are just two of a handful of airlines exploring the use of biofuels made from algae to power their planes. The Green Tech Blog reports that a joint biofuel effort - which also includes international airlines Aero Engines, Honeywell Aerospace and UOP, a second Honeywell company - was announced Thursday.
The group [...]
Ethanol Smear Campaign Exposed
Ethanol proponents from the halls of Congress to the corn fields of the Midwest are expressing outrage at documentation that major food corporations may have supported a high-dollar public relations campaign to blame farmers and ethanol for rising food prices.
In a prepared floor statement on Thursday, Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa told his colleagues that [...]
Deere Upgrades Ethanol Management System
John Deere Agri Services has released an upgrade to its ethanol business management system, which includes a new flow controller interface as an extended option available with their scale automation system. As part of the integrated business system for ethanol facility management, the scale system automates shipping and receiving operations.
The ethanol facility is able to [...]
Massachusetts to Get E85 Station
Massachusetts drivers will soon be able to get 85 percent ethanol enriched fuel for their flex-fuel vehicles.
According to the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition, Burke Oil of Chelsea, MA will add E85 to its fueling options next month.
"Waivers and permits were new issues for state and local government agencies as well as for us," [...]
Biodiesel Gets Even More Bio Friendly
As if biodiesel isn’t green enough. But, Maverick BioFuels has found yet another way to make bio-diesel even more sustainable and XcelPlus Global Holdings is jumping at the opportunity to put this new technology to use. XcelPlus will equip itself with the necessary tools from Maverick to covert glycerin, a byproduct from biodiesel production, to [...]
DOE: Wind Could Provide 20% of US Power
A new report from the U.S. Department of Energy says that America could get 20 percent of its power from wind energy in about the next 20 years.
This agency press release says it will mean increasing the amount of wind power by nearly 20 times current production levels… a doable number according to the DOE:
Entitled [...]
Canada Ag Minister Defends Biodiesel, Ethanol
Canadian Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz is blasting those opposing a proposed mandate for biofuels in the country.
This story from the Lloydminster (Alberta, Canada) Meridian Booster has more details:
Ritz defended the plan in the House of Commons against criticism from the New Democratic Party, which once supported the use of biofuels but has switched its position. [...]
Ethanol Content may double in gasoline
The ethanol supporters are looking to raise the content of ethanol in every day gasoline from 10 percent ethanol and 90 percent gasoline 20 percent ethanol and 80 percent gasoline. This will double the nation's use of ethanol to further reduce America's oil consumption. E85 (85 percent ethanol 15 percent gasoline) is still seemingly hard to find in many states, e10 has been utilized greatly across the country.
The only threat that can get this shot down is can today's cars use twice the ethanol that is currently available in e10? Some say, older vehicle engine's may not be able to run on e20 because it will damage their engines.
The University of Minnesota and Minnesota State University have conducted studies to help ethanol out. They found that e20 will not damage engine parts. The e20 blend is not enough ethanol for engine parts to break down.
Even though there may be skepticism regarding ethanol as the fuel of the future, numerous states in America have laws requiring a certain percent of ethanol must be used in fuel. In Minnesota, they are looking to change the requirement to 20 percent ethanol in the next few years.
Unfortunately for ethanol, there is still doubt for twenty percent ethanol fuel blends. The main issue facing e20 is will it be able to be consumed by America's vehicles? The doubters say twenty percent ethanol will corrode normal engine parts unless flex-fuel kits are utilized.
In a USA Today article, USA Today blew the whistle on the move to e20 in Australia. Reportedly, e20 testing in Australia lead to the damage of 40 percent of all the car's catalytic converters.
In order for e20 to be distributed country wide, the EPA must test the emissions and the effects on engine parts before it will become legal. If e20 is used before the EPA runs their tests, e20 may void the car's warranty.
e85 grants
Unlike many states in the northeast, Indiana, a state in America's corn belt, is taking the right steps to help their retailers upgrade their fuel tanks to allow dispensing of e85 fuel. Indiana is beginning to offer their retailers grants to help convert their fuel tanks to hold e85 ethanol fuel. Retailers can expect grants up to $5,000.
As many retailers know, upgrading their fuel tanks to distribute e85 ethanol fuel can be a very expensive endeavor. The Indiana Corn Marketing Council hopes to offer as much help as possible to any retailer that will help promote and distribute e85.
According to representatives of the Indiana Corn Marketing Council, their grant plus the corn checkoff grant program can pay big dividends to local retailers should the state of Indiana raise the corn checkoff to $20,000 which is currently proposed.
Currently in the state of Indiana, there is just below 100 e85 stations.
With the help of this grant, this should help may new retailers in Indiana convert to e85 tanks. The Indiana Corn Marketing Council is trying to make e85 fuel mainstream to everyone who have already done the correct thing and gone out and bought a flex-fuel automobile, a car that uses E85 or regular gasoline.
Hopefully other states in the United States will consider such grants them selfs. With little e85 penetration in the nation's east coast grants such as these will allow e85 to gain a good foot hold for the United States to rely less on foreign oil.
e85 Ferrari
Monday, Ferrari revealed a e85 concept car that can run on ethanol. A Ferrari spokesperson said that it showcased the e85 ethanol car because of their engineering experience in Formula One and the bubbling demand for alternative fuel or flex-fuel vehicles in America.
The handsome Ferrari F430 Spider Bio-fuel utilizes E85, a blend of fuel that is comprised of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline.
While at the North American International Auto Show, Amadeo Felisa, Ferrari's chief executive, described Ferrari's commitment to drastically reduce their car's emissions by forty percent by 2012.
According to the executive, Ferrari had prior experience with e85 in Formula one racing. When racing, Formula One has regulations that say all the cars used in races must use fuel that is comprised of 5.75 percent biomass.
On the other hand, The FIA GT and the American Le Mans racing series have somewhat stricter policies. Those races require drivers to use race car's that operate with e10 or ten percent ethanol.
In order for Ferrari to create the F430 Spider Bio-fuel, Ferrari engineers had to do some minor tweaks to the car's engine. The engineers had to make changes to the fuel injection system and they had to change settings in the Ferrari's engine computer. This resulted in lower carbon dioxide emissions - a five percent cut - and as an added bonus, it also increased the car's power output with no changes to the car's weight.
This looks to be quite the Ferrari for anyone who is looking for a very sporty e85 car.
e85 Ethanol from Switchgrass
It seems that Switchgrass might be a much better idea then corn for the production of e85 ethanol. Right now, the technology is in its infancy since researchers are still hammering out the details.
In bio-refineries, switchgrass can be reduced into simple sugars including glucose and xylose. These sugars can then be fermented into ethanol in a similar fashion to corn. The primary sources for ethanol production in the United States are grain from corn and other annual cereal grains, such as sorghum. While switchgrass ethanol is chemically identical to ethanol made from corn, soybeans or sorghum, cellulose ethanol shows a net energy content three times greater than grain ethanol and emits a low net level of greenhouse gases.
With growing concerns of national food prices, switchgrass may help curb the worrying. Switchgrass has an incredible benefit to be used in ethanol production since it is not used by the population for food. According to data received on farm studies, researches from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Switchgrass that was produced for biofuel production made 540 percent greater energy than it needed to grow, then harvest and finally produce ethanol.
Perhaps farmers can now begin to grow corn again strictly for food production instead of ethanol. If farmers decide that, it may be able to get the price of corn per bushel back to reasonable levels seen only a couple of years ago. This will also help many other markets that use similar grains for feeding livestock.
The only thing that holds switchgrass back is research in cellulosic ethanol. If Ethanol made from cellulose, it will emit 80 percent less global warming pollutions than gasoline. Currently cellulosic ethanol is still in research phase and it may take a few years before a major change is made in the Ethanol Industry.
Ethanol - the best alternative fuel according to GM
In November of 2007, General Motors updated a report on a benefit to cost analysis for E85 ethanol, saying the report did not take into account many positive factors.
GM said it issued the change in response to a report made earlier in USA Today that proclaims ethanol E85 fuel loses its cost-benefit to diesel.
According to Mustafa Mohatarem, GM's Chief Economist, explained in a statement, "We believe ethanol as a renewable fuel is the best near-term alternative to oil as a transportation fuel and replacing gasoline with ethanol positively contributes to lowering greenhouse gas emissions."
As of now, less than 1% of gas stations in the United States of America offer E85, and prices can vary greatly. Some fueling stations charge the same price for E85 ethanol as they do for gasoline, so when gas prices go up or down, E85 follows as well. In other parts of the country, predominantly in regions such as the corn belt where ethanol fuels are more easily attainable, the cost for E85 is usually about a dollar cheaper then regular gas.
According to GM, they are currently producing around 400,000 E85 flex-fuel model cars per year and that number will double that to 800,000 by 2010. GM hopes to produce more than 2 million FlexFuel automobiles by the year 2012.
GM also went on to say that aside from building the fleet of cars, they are also committed to help build everything necessary for ethanol to catch on.
NASCAR moves to alternative fuels
Is is fitting that at the start of every NASCAR race they wave a green flag? As I have previously posted, NASCAR is finally beginning to make their move to alternative, green fuels. Like other racing leagues, companies and organizations, NASCAR is beginning to make their move to become more environmentally friendly.
Currently, NASCAR is only in discussions with their partners. They recently have held conferences on their environment issues with its partners Sunoco Inc and General Motors.
NASCAR does not impact the environment too much with their races but they do impact it symbolically. If people see that NASCAR is willing to make the move to alternative fuels, perhaps NASCAR will be able to persuade them to move on other fuels.
NASCAR administration says that they have they are receiving many car makers willing to help them out. They have Toyota, GM, Ford and Chrysler all offering their support. NASCAR simply needs to take the time out to research and develop their sport to use alternative fuels.
To NASCAR's credit, they have already answered calls for better safety by introducing new automobiles dubbed the "Cars of Tomorrow" into many of the races this year. Over the course of the 2008 race season, they will use the cars that have been designed to be safer and much more cost effective.
e85 Ethanol saves turkeys
Very indirectly, at least, and only for a couple of lucky turkeys.
Today, President Bush granted two turkeys full presidential pardons to "May" and "Flower" at the yearly Thanksgiving pardon.
The reason why this makes ethanol news is because these two turkeys were brought to the ceremony in a Flex-fueled Ford F-150. Ford explained that the F-150 used to transport the two turkeys was fueled with E85.
Ford is supporting the use and production of alternative renewable fuels such as ethanol. Ford also promises to make millions of vehicles that run on E85 as a way of reducing U.S. dependency on importing oil from overseas. When Congress returns from its Thanksgiving holiday in December, it is expected to review an energy bill that increases the required fuel efficiency of vehicles by as much as 40 percent, or 35 miles per gallon.
This bill is most likely a long shot but perhaps we should begin to say good bye to our Hummers.
John Edwards promoting e85
John Edwards is going to great lengths to outshine other Democratic candidates with an very strong environmental platform. On the 2008 campaign trail, this blue-collar defender has declared himself as a bleeding-heart greenie.
Edwards is the first candidate to call for an 80 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and the first to make his campaign carbon neutral, Edwards has had a pied-piper effect on the other Democrat contenders, prompting them to make similar pledges. He has also set himself apart with his call for a freeze on all development of coal power plants until they can be outfitted with carbon sequestration technology. But the former senator from North Carolina runs with the pack in his enthusiasm for corn ethanol, and his green mantle is a fairly new accessory.
ecoFLEX in GM Europe
General Motor's European company announced on Friday that they will be pushing to have its main production line more environmentally friendly. GM says it would place cleaner engines in traditional cars and provide many more cars that can utilize e85 ethanol.
GM named the plan ecoFLEX and said it would provide an ecoFLEX variation with lower emissions in each production of cars, starting with the 2008 Opel Corsa 1. 3 CDTI from its European brand.
The automobile will breathe 119 grams per kilogram of carbon dioxide, which is under the proposed EU median measure of 130 grams per kilogram. An important goal for GM to work towards will be to develop vehicles with the same operation standards and that cost the same as other traditional vehicles.
Saab, a Swedish brand that is also owned by GM, would too enlarge its scope of biofuel engines. GM's luxury brand Cadillac will also provide an example of an E85 engine by the end of 2007.
GM said they would pay more attention on environmental concerns with many technologies instead of just using only one. GM said they were moving forward in creating automobiles that operate on hydrogen fuel cells, while new technology could merely better the operation of current gasoline buring engines.
One instance was Eco-Turbo engines that take smaller cylinder displacements but develop equal ability and efficiency via turbocharging the engine.
GM Europe said it would produce 16 original GM Europe engine families and 10 original transmissions by the year of 2012.
Custom e85 chopper
Orange county choppers revealed a very green chopper, a first of its kind. This chopper runs on e85 ethanol. It was the first one that they have built which only uses e85.
Some of the features from the bike are as follows:
Wind Turbine Spokes
Here's where the Teutuls paid homage to the wind. Iowa ranks third in the nation for wind power, with over 900 wind turbines across the state, with plans for another 300 more. Right now we can harvest enough wind to power 250,000 Iowa homes. Wind energy is the cleanest renewable energy source and reduces more then 1.5 million tons of carbon dioxide per year.
E85 Gas Cap
This bad boy runs on e85. E85 or 85% ethanol ethanol blended gas burns cleaner, which reduces green house gases, can be grown right here in Iowa and helps increase our energy independence.
Soybean and Corn Paint Detail
Even though the bike runs on e85 and not biodiesel, the Teutuls still wanted to call out Iowa's biodiesel industry. The fuel is clean-burning, biodegradable fuel typically produced from soybeans or animal fat. It is also great for the environment since it reduces sulfur and carbon dioxide emissions.
Corn Head "Scoop"
Orange County Choppers designed the corn-head to represent the part of the machine used to harvest our main crops; the combine. Iowa farmers lead the nation in corn and soybean production and their hard work and dedication make our nation's renewable energy movement a reality.
E-85 Logo
You might see this very same logo at gas stations all around Iowa. If you have a flex-fuel vehicle, this is the fuel to use because 85% of it was made right here in Iowa. If you don't see this logo at your local gas station, be sure to ask them to start selling e85.
Livestock Seat
For ethanol plants to be successful and efficient, having livestock nearby is very important. Cattle eat what's left over from making ethanol: Distillers Grain and Solubles (DGS). By feeding this coproduct to cattle, ethanol plants save money on transportation costs (they don't have to ship it out of state), and livestock farmers save money on feed costs.
Farm Bureau Logo
Why did we have this bike built? Well, as Iowa's largest general agriculture organization, our members expect us to promote and celebrate their efforts on the farm. And what better way then taking all the great things they grow and use for renewable energy and rolling it all into the look and feel of a custom OCC Chopper!
Ethanol Plant Piping Exhaust
These custom pipes were designed to look like some of the pipes used in Iowa's modern ethanol plants that help Iowa the nation's leader in ethanol production.
Can e85 be mixed with regular gasoline?
Can e85 be mixed with regular gasoline?
This question is asked very often. Since e85 is already a mixture of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline, it is just fine to mix the two fuels.
Let's say that you fill up with e85 before a trip then continue to your destination. When you are ready to leave, you notice there are no e85 stations around. You have less then half a tank left of e85, and you need to fill up. Filling up your tank with regular gas is just fine for your flex fuel vehicle.
Filling up will regular gas will only dilute the e85 ethanol from the original fill up. With a rough calculation, if you have half a tank of e85 and fill up with regular gas, you will have approximately 40 percent ethanol and 60 percent gasoline in your tank.
If your vehicle is a flex fuel vehicle, it will be able to take any combination of e85 and gasoline.
Converting to ethanol in Australia
Much like in America, ethanol is also booming down under in Australia. According to Tony Kelly, the New South Wales Minister for Regional Development, service stations have been converting vehicles and gas stations as fast as they could.
The only problem is that the employees that complete the ethanol conversions are falling behind due to the very high demand.
The Australian Government has been giving many companies resources to convert their infrastructure from petroleum to ethanol however the resources are set to expire in October of 2007.
The New South Wales Government is asking the Commonwealth to extend the ethanol distribution program for another four years, well past the deadline of October.
Last year, Australia announced plans to provide resources to fuel stations to upgrade their fuel tanks in order for the tanks to carry ethanol along with gasoline.
Originally, the ethanol distribution program was to run for only one year. Tony Kelly says the twelve month time frame is far from enough to upgrade. With public interest and awareness at its peak, now is not the time for pulling the plug on the bio-fuel industry.
Follow this link for more information on converting to ethanol.
Other sources of Ethanol
Universities and businesses in Michigan are preparing for a future that will be powered by plants, and not petroleum. Bruce Dale is adding his voice to the many more that are calling for more ethanol and less petroleum for trucks, cars, and SUVs.
But while the current focus for ethanol vehicles tends to be corn based fuels, Bruce sees a solution with many other plants as well.
Dale is a Michigan State University professor who is conducting research for turning other plant materials into fuel. He was also one of the presenters at the US BioEnergy Corporation corn ethanol plant in Woodbury that was focused on alternative fuel.
According to Dale, the age of oil is ending. Dale is a professor of chemical engineering and materials science at Michigan State University. He wonders what we can do about our dependence on foreign oil.
Fossil-based petroleum fuel products account for 97 percent of the fuel needed for cars and trucks, Dale said.
According to Dale, America literally stops without oil.
Dale sees a resolution for the trouble. Switching from oil based products such as petrol and diesel to ethanol would cut the need for oil, produce less hydrocarbon emissions and might have the United States less reliant on oil-rich areas such as the Middle East.
But maize only won't offer that vitality, Dale said.
Dale has worked for over 30 years to discover more cost effective ways to develop ethanol made from other new substances - commonly known as cellulosic ethanol. Sources for that sort of fuel can include rice husks, wheat straw and saw debris - things that had been considered waste.
A few years ago, it cost as more as $1.40 a gallon to develop cellulosic ethanol. But improvements in engineering could take the cost downward to about 60 cents a gallon in another 15 to 20 years.
According to Dale, ethanol could be sold for between $1.50 to $1.70 a gallon at the pump.
The Minnesota based US BioEnergy plans to increase its capacity from 300 million gallons to 1 billion gallons a year by the year 2009.
US BioEnergy has four ethanol plants and is currently building three more, says Kim Mitchell, the vice president of engineering for US BioEnergy.
e85 gains strength as gas prices soar
Most consumers will know E85 is a blend of gas and ethanol. It consists of 15 percent gasoline and 85 percent ethanol, hence the name, e85. Today, most of the ethanol used in the United States is produced by America's corn farmers. How many automobiles on the roads can use E85? Perhaps the number is more than you may think.
Eric Escudero a spokesperson of Colorado's AAA, "6 million vehicles on the road are flex fuel vehicles. Especially General Motors and Ford manufactured vehicles." GM estimates that they have approximately 2 million flex fuel vehicles driving on U.S. roads and there are another 4 million flex fuel cars on the roads by other manufacturers.
"All you have to do is check on the gas cap on the owners manual, you might have the option of using E85," Escudero proclaims. Ethanol has less energy than pure gasoline. Because of this, there is about a 10-15 percent drop in fuel economy of the vehicle. AAA says that the percentage may be even higher. "It's about 30 percent less efficient, so you're not getting as good gas mileage." If the price of ethanol is lower it absolutely makes sense.
The American ethanol industry is expected to produce about 6 billion gallons of E85 fuel, this year. Currently, American consumers use almost 390 million gallons every single day. Ethanol, however, is still just a small drop in the barrel of oil. As gas prices go through the ceiling and more ethanol is produced, it has the chance to become more popular.
Follow this link for this year's list of flex-fuel cars
Producing cheaper Ethanol
Researchers from Cornell University have discovered a new plant enzyme that could make the production costs of cellulosic ethanol much less expensive then todays processes.
The researches say the enzyme might potentially enable plant material used to make ethanol can be broken down more efficiently than is possible using current technologies.
Today's technologies use enzymes from microbes called "cellulases." The microbes digest and process the cellulose in grasses and such rapidly growing trees. The microbial enzymes have a structure that makes them very good at combining and digesting plant's cell wall, lignocellulose. Lignocellulose is a combination of lignin (a special type of cellulose) and regular cellulose.
The researchers say the plant enzymes of this new class has structure similar to these.
Jocelyn Rose, Cornell's assistant professor of plant biology, says that a critical step in producing cellulosic ethanol involves breaking down a plant's cell wall material and fermenting the sugars that are released.
"This is the first example of a cellulose-binding domain in a plant cell wall enzyme." Rose says. "The bottleneck for conversion of lignocellulose into ethanol is efficient cellulose degradation. The discovery of these enzymes suggests there might be sets of new plant enzymes to improve the efficiency of cellulose degradation."
Jocelyn Rose also said while they found the new enzyme in a tomato plant, they have evidence to suggest that such proteins are present in many other species of plants as well, which could be used for even more biofuel production.
These findings will appear in the issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry on April 20th.
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