About 40 years ago, Iowa State Chemistry professor John Verkade based his doctoral dissertation on a chemical compound, and only realized a few years ago that it may very well hold the key to breaking down the cellulose that forms the structure of a plant's cell walls.
The way the story goes is that Verkade had initially thought someone was joking around by repeatedly stealing a wooden stick from one of his beakers. Soon he realized that the stick wasn't being stolen by a prankster. It was being broken down by the compound it was sitting in. At the time he marked it up as an interesting observation and asked the university to consider a patent application, but the request was denied. Of course, this was well before the notion of cellulosic ethanol production was on the national radar.
It was George Kraus, a colleague of Verkade, who planted the seed in Verkade's head by suggesting that the compound could be used to break down the cellulose walls inside plants opening the door for cellulosic ethanol production. Verkade in turn sought funding and received a $125,000 grant from the Energy Department via the Midwest Consortium for Biobased Products and Bioenergy.
The initial results of his research were discouraging until they began treating the feedstock with equal amounts of the chemical compound and water. So far, they have been able to break down 85 to 95 percent of the cellulose. Currently, Verkade and Reed Oshel, an Iowa State graduate student, are working to develop a cheaper version of the compound.
There have been countless reports regarding global warming and its relation to greenhouse gases, but one recent British study in particular is getting more notoriety than most. The basic premise of the report isn't necessarily groundbreaking. It says that at our current rate of greenhouse gas emissions, climate change will have a severe impact on the global economy. It concludes that the cost for not only governments but also businesses and consumers would be significantly less if we were to take measures now to curb global warming rather than deal with the impending consequences.
The study's actual title is The Economics of Climate Change, but from most articles I've seen, it's more commonly referred to as the Stern Report. Nicholas Stern, the report's author, is not known as an environmentalist with an agenda. Instead, he's a former chief economist and senior vice president of the World Bank and a widely respected economic adviser to the British government.
Even though this is a British report and has received most of its heralded attention and support from European institutions, The Car Connection notes that this could still have a large impact on American automakers because more so than ever before, we're in "an era of global platforms and integrated product development."
If you're interested in reading more about the Stern Report, Reuters printed a short summary of costs in the study, or you can download the entire report in a PDF format here.
From soy we can produce about 50 gallons of biodiesel per acre whereas peanuts can yield as much as 123 gallons on the same amount of land. So why then does the U.S. generate the majority of its biodiesel from soy? The answer lies within the value of peanut oil on the global market. It's more valuable than soy which makes the conversion to biodiesel an unattractive option.
According to Farm Press, researchers at the University of Georgia are working to fix this problem. They see the answer in a peanut variety that would be grown specifically for biodiesel production. Their primary goals are that they be non-edible, high in oil and cheaper to grow than a conventional peanut. If they can meet these requirements, they would not have to compete with the world market and biodiesel will be one step closer to becoming what Phillip Badger, president of General Bioenergy, calls a part of the "silver buckshot" solution alongside ethanol.
Despite Big Oil's recent run of record profits, they're still very concerned with the diminishing state the industry's image. The Wall Street Journal ran this article (subscription required) which reports that the American Petroleum Institute (API) is engaging in a "full-fledged, open-ended [advertising] campaign" and has turned to Harris Interactive, the same company that is entrusted to keep America's milk consumption on the ups. API president Red Cavaney has said that they "will spend what's necessary to achieve the objective."
The API says the campaign is an effort to inform consumer and policy makers about how the energy industry works which can most likely be read as, "it's not our fault gas prices soared" and "please let us drill where we want." The article's author, Jeffrey Ball, says that we can expect the call for new drilling to be embedded in a "softer endorsement of steps to address the energy crunch, from efficiency to alternative fuels." He then quotes Harris Interactive senior vice president Jean Statler who's working on the campaign at an oil conference in Dallas as saying, "I know and you all know that you're in the oil and gas business... but the fact of the matter is there is just a driving, overwhelming desire for the industry to start diversifying."
This is more than likely a brilliant move for the oil industry as they'll soon be wading in a sea of Democrats who may very well seek increased taxes and limit drilling.
If you live in the States, the thought of a diesel-powered Mini may come as a bit of a surprise, but they've been available for a few years in Europe in the form of the Mini One D. You'll find that most reviewers are pleased with the mileage of the 1.4-liter Toyota-built diesel, but none are particularly excited about the scant 74bhp.
Enter PSA. Car Magazine is reporting that Mini will unveil a dieselized version of the more sporty Cooper powered by PSA's proven 1.6-liter HDi engine. The sparkless powerplant produces 110 horses and 180 lb-ft of torque. Car says that should be good enough for a sub-10 second run from 0-62 mph which should come in at about two seconds quicker than the current Mini One D.
The car is scheduled to make its debut at the Geneva auto show in February, though we doubt the diesel Cooper will make its way to American shores anytime soon. Maybe if we make enough noise, Mini will listen. It seemed to work with getting BMW to put a stick-shift back in the M5?
Today, Toyota and Isuzu announced a collaboration which will be made possible by the former purchasing a 5.9 percent stake (100 million shares) in the latter. The two companies said in a public statement that the deal will allow them to work together in the research and development in three areas of green car technology. According to Automotive News (subscription required), Isuzu will take the lead in the development of small diesel engines and diesel emissions control while Toyota spearheads alternative-fuel drivetrains and environmental technologies for gas engines.
It seems as though most of the industry can't help but see an impending omen in the announcement. Just seven months ago, GM sold off the entirety of its stake (7.9 percent) in Isuzu in an effort to focus on falling profits in North America. And now, as Toyota makes one of GM's old alliances its own, the Japanese giant also gears up in an attempt to overtake GM as the world's number one automaker.
There's currently no word on the price of the deal, but it should hover somewhere around $354 million. "You have my word on it."
[Source: Associated Press via International Herald Tribune]
We normally discuss biofuels in the context of easing our nation's dependence on foreign energy sources. However, as global demand for biofuels rises, that context may soon shift towards supplying international demand. In a recent study, the International Food and Agricultural Trade Policy Council (IPC) reported that uncertainties in classifications may be a primary factor in limiting the international trade of biofuels. Robert Howse, lead author of the paper and a University of Michigan law professor, said that defining specific classifications will allow for the establishment of a widely accepted tariff structure as well as definitive subsidy notification requirement, both of which would ease international trading.
Additionally, the report states that the issue of sustainability may also become a factor that impedes the international biofuels market. Some European countries seem to be in the early stages of requiring that imported biofuels come from sustainable sources.
Howse believes that there are two primary reasons why people shy away from discussing the biofuels market openly. The first is that it's a relatively new market. The second is because energy issues are usually tied to national security. He says, "Once you get past that threshold, you can have trade negotiations that are explicitly targeted at biofuels." The paper suggests that governments and international organizations such as the World Trade Organization start working together to develop acceptable standards.
There has undoubtedly been a lot of noise from both sides of the ethanol argument. Putting it simply, proponents of the biofuel see it as a way to ween the country off foreign oil while critics question its sustainability and energy balance. Friday's news from VeraSun, the nation's second largest ethanol producer, is surely bound to mix things up.
VeraSun announced that they would build the first large-scale commercial biodiesel production facility which uses oil extracted from distiller grains, a co-product of ethanol production, as its feedstock. That's right. Two biofuels from the same source. Unfortunately, no mention was made of feasibility studies or energy balance calculations, but TradingMarkets.com is reporting that VeraSun has contracted with Lurgi PSI for design and engineering services as well as Crown Iron Works Company for oil extraction equipment.
Construction on the 30 million-gallon-per-year facility is to begin in 2007 and production should start in 2008.
[Source: Associated Press via Netscape Money and Business]
A few weeks ago, we reported on a press release from Agni Inc., an alternative energy technology company, that announced the registration of the design rights for a car that could run on hydrogen, diesel, biodiesel, grid-electricity and the sun. Unfortunately, the press release was short and left many questions unanswered, so the car remained a bit of a mystery. We contacted Agni directly to obtain additional information and just a few days ago they were finally able to get back to us with a more thorough description of the vehicle they're calling the REAL AF (Renewable Energy Automobile - Ambiente Futuro).
Back in October, we speculated that the car would be powered by a hybrid drivetrain incorporating an electric motor and a small-displacement diesel engine, however, we were very wrong. Instead the car uses two electric DC motors - one to provide primary propulsion, the other for rapid acceleration - which are linked to a gearbox through an electric clutch. If needed, the car is able convert its diesel or biodiesel fuel to hydrogen through a fuel processor which is incorporated in its two Agni Hydrogen Power Modules.
As for electrical energy storage, the REAL AF uses a bank of super capacitors instead of batteries. The capacity of the reservoir for non-operational storage which is used when pulling electricity from a wall outlet is listed at 160 MJ (about 44 kWh). It appears as though the Hydrogen Power Module is linked to a separate storage unit capable of holding 64 MJ (about 18 kWh).
As expected, the car uses regenerative brakes, but also incorporates a thermal energy management system that is able to recover energy from waste heat generated by the fuel processor and on-board electronics and use it to chill water for air conditioning. It's up to the Intelligent Energy Management System to manage the generation, storage and deployment of energy to deliver either optimal efficiency or maximum performance.
Unfortunately, the description isn't a full spec sheet, but we've certainly obtained a much clearer vision of the car's capabilities and intentions. One last note is that the description only mentions European safety standards, so we probably won't get a chance to see the REAL AF state-side.
You'll find the entire vehicle description after the jump.
Dale T. Decker, industry and government relations director for Decker Truck Line Inc., has got a new pet project: testing the potential of biodiesel. Now when a company states it's going to conduct real-world testing, you rarely get an accurate control group and conversely, lab conditions offer only theoretical insights to the real world. That's apparently not good enough for Decker.
The test, which they're calling the 2 Million Mile Haul, is aiming for an unprecedented level of accuracy by testing 20 brand new trucks in real-world conditions. Half will run on traditional petroleum diesel while the other half will run on soy-based B20. To minimize anomalies, the trucks will travel matching routes and carry matching loads. Measurements and data analysis will include engine wear, mileage, fuel consumptions and repairs.
The project brings together Iowa Central Community College, the Iowa Soybean Association, Caterpillar Inc., the United States Department of Agriculture and the Renewable Energy Group of Ralston, a biodiesel plant developer. Students and faculty at Iowa Central will be conducting data measurements and analysis.
Aside from providing proof of biodiesel's potential and viability, a Caterpillar representative believes that biodiesel needs a widely accepted technical standard and that Decker's project is a step in the right direction.
As Toyota, the king of hybrids, embarks on its ambitious plan of selling 1 million hybrid vehicles worldwide annually before 2015, you have to wonder just how they're going to do it. We've already heard that they eventually plan to offer a hybrid version of all its cars, but will that be enough? How about squeezing more out of the marketability of the Prius nameplate?
Bloomberg is reporting that at SEMA Jim Lentz, executive vice president for Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., suggested that the company may expand the model range of the Prius by offering a wagon and a smaller, lighter city-car. He explained this was an option, but the company does not have any plans to do so just yet. The wagon would offer utility to the active American lifestyle while the city-car would conceivably achieve even better gas mileage and make more sense for a younger generation living in densely packed urban areas.
Here's to hoping that a smaller, lighter and hopefully more agile Prius becomes a reality in our near future.
If only we could put everything on a linear scale, it would be so much easier to see if one thing is better or worse than another. Yahoo! teamed up with Environmental Defense to do just that for the "greenness" of automobiles. It's a similar concept to J.D. Power and Associates' Automotive Environmental Index, however, Yahoo! and Environmental Defense chose to use a 0 to 100 point system in which the higher the rating, the greener the car and they're posting it on Yahoo's automotive website built for consumers.
Environmental Defense doesn't reveal the algorithm used to generate the ratings, but Yahoo! explains that the goal is to reflect a vehicle's "total environmental impact" by juding them according to fuel economy, emissions standards and curb weight.
The pollutants covered in the rating include greenhouse gases, particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide. So which is worse? Spewing carbon dioxide or particulate matter? Unfortunately, Yahoo! doesn't get detailed in their explanation of the Green Ratings. What's interesting is that they claim the ratings retain the same scale throughout the spectrum. That is, they say that the savings of the 3 points between 40 and 43 cuts down on the same amount of pollution as the 3-point gain between 60 and 63.
They've also taken up all the slack given to flex-fuel vehicles as each car's Green Rating is based solely on its use of "the commonly available motor fuel (gasoline or diesel)" unless it was specifically designed to use a different fuel such as natural gas. The site doesn't totally shun ethanol as there's a link for it under the "Technology" tab, however, none of the cars were rated with it. The same holds true for vehicles capable of running biodiesel. Their ratings are based on petroleum diesel fuel.
Check out the top 100 cars by their Green Rating by clicking here. Number 1 isn't the Prius. It's the 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid. If you're curious why the 2006 Civic Hybrid beat out the 2007 Civic Hybrid, the answer may be as simple as the vehicles' respective weights. The 2007 version tipped the scales by six more pounds than its predecessor. The highest ranking SUV is the 2007 Ford Escape Hybrid (front-wheel drive) which came in at 9 on the list. The Toyota Camry Hybrid was just above the Escape at number 8 while the Honda Accord Hybrid managed just 31st. Oh, and sports car fans will be happy to see the Lotus Elise listed at number 55 and the highest ranked Miata at 57.
In the face of waning hybrid vehicle tax credits (at least for Toyota), the non-profit organization American Jewish Committee began providing cash incentives for its employees to purchase high-mileage cars with their Fuel-Efficient Vehicle Bonus Program. Depending on vehicle model, bonuses of either $2,500 or $1,500 will be paid out to workers at AJC who have purchased one of the following vehicles: Toyota Prius, Camry Hybrid, Honda Civic Hybrid, Honda Insight, Ford Escape Hybrid, Mercury Mariner Hybrid, Mazda Tribute Hybrid, Mazda 3, Saturn Ion or Ford Focus. AJC executive director David A. Harris said, "Our car-buying incentive is integral to AJC's long-term commitment to developing a serious energy policy."
I wonder if they'll be adding the Saturn Vue Greenline to the list. You figure it should qualify for the lesser of the bonuses.
The Associated Press is reporting that last Tuesday researchers at Volkswagen unveiled the first viable high-temperature fuel cell (HTFC) for passenger vehicles. In theory, the benefits of an HTFC over the more common low-temperature fuel cell would allow it to run more efficiently while demanding less from the environment.
Typically a low-temperature fuel cell runs at 176 degrees Fahrenheit whereas VW's high-temperature version can run at levels as high as 248. Because of this the HFTC doesn't need the complex, expensive cooling system required by the less tolerant LTFC. Also, the HFTC is lighter, more compact, more stable and cheaper than the LTFC. Juergen Leohold, head of Volkswagen's corporate research, went as far as to say, "we no longer give much chance to low-temperature fuel cells going into series production."
VW says the new fuel cell design could be used in passenger cars by 2020. I wonder if that'll give us enough time to clean our electricity grid and figure out how to make hydrogen in an environmentally friendly fashion.
[Source: Associated Press via International Herald Tribune]
You've undoubtedly heard the term 'design-by-committee' (usually in a negative context), but when's the last time you heard someone say 'design-by-survey?' A British online buying guide called New Car Net (www.newcarnet.co.uk) spent two months searching for the ideal car by asking motorists to choose elements of existing vehicles they liked best. The categories included body shapes, engine power, safety features and accessories.
Judge for yourself as the image above is an artist's rendition of the resulting exterior which combines the front of a Porsche Boxster, the stretched roof-line of a Jaguar XK and the wheels of the U.K. Toyota Avensis.
Of particular interest to us are the answers received in the category of powertrain. Nearly 50 percent chose a diesel or hybrid powerplant over a standard gas-fueled engine while half opted for a "medium-powered engine" over a gas-guzzler.
Of course, we're happy to see survey results in which such a large percentage of respondents choose higher-mileage over power, but the most impressive point we'd like to underscore in this survey is that this is what drivers chose as their ideal car. Also, it's important keep in mind that this was a British survey where the gas is much more expensive and diesels are much more widely accepted. Still, it makes you wonder just how much longer they'll be saying, "there's just no substitute for displacement" on this side of the Atlantic.
About 40 years ago, Iowa State Chemistry professor John Verkade based his doctoral dissertation on a chemical compound, and only realized a few years ago that it may very well hold the key to breaking down the cellulose that forms the structure of a plant's cell walls. 
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