Photo by merfam. Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0.
Sure, you might be able to describe the difference between cellulosic ethanol made by Coskata and that made by Mascoma. Or, perhaps your biofuel knowledge is just right to explain how cellulosic ethanol and corn ethanol are different, and what each might mean to the environment. But trust me, the general public has a long way to go to understand what all these new fuel types are. Remember the posts about filling up with the wrong fuel?
Anyway, I'd just like to point out this letter to the editor that appeared in today's Washington Post. In a May 3 editorial called "The Greening of Montgomery," the WaPo mangled the difference between biodiesel and ethanol, suggesting that while switching Montgomery County's fleet of diesel cars to biofuels would be a good move, because of the problems with ethanol, care should be taken. A reader, Lynne Tucker of Bethesda, wrote in to clarify just which biofuel can go into what type of engine. What we can learn from this is that, as we educate ourselves the latest and greatest green car news, there's a lot we need to do to educate others.
The idea seems simple enough, in a time when all of the good ideas for reality TV have come and gone: take Tommy Lee of Mötley Crüe and hip-hop star Ludacris and pitch them against each other in a show called Battleground Earth. The goal of the show is for each of them to go green and become more environmentally aware, while performing stunts and having the whole thing filmed.
The show won't air until this late summer, but the two performers are out and about filming episodes right now. Last week, the two and the crew were in Texas where they, among other events, needed to find ways to refuel their biodiesel tour buses. The stunt was to outsell the other at Keller's Drive-In. By selling a lot of greasy food to customers, the kitchen could make more grease, which could then be turned into the biofuel. Ludacris offered $20 to the person who could eat the most corn dogs. Looks like they've got the recycling angle down, but not the reduce part. Maybe next season.
The single most expensive environmental initiative put forward by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper (Conservative) was a biofuels initiative that is now seeing significant new opposition. The CDN$2.2 billion (about a $1 trillion at current exchange rates) was intended to provide incentives for biofuel development north of the border. However, recent spikes in food prices and criticism of using food crops to make transportation fuel has caused some who previously supported the plan to switch sides.
Opposition International Development critic (Liberal) Keith Martin went as far as calling for a moratorium on biofuel subsidies until the problems are better understood. NDP members of parliament also opposed the plan while the Bloc Quebecouis officially supports it. However, Bloc environment critic Bernard Bigras is opposed to the use of corn ethanol. Conservative Environment Minister John Baird is arguing in favor of the legislation and says that $500 million of the total is set aside for research into next-generation biofuels such as cellulosic ethanol. The legislation looks likely to pass regardless of the new opposition, although an amendment to the bill calls for a review of the environmental and economic impact of the 5 percent ethanol target one year after the law passes.
Biofuels like ethanol and biodiesel are already available, so why would they show up on our list of future technologies? A one-word answer: cellulose.
Currently, mass-produced ethanol is created by the fermentation of sugar and in the U.S. granulated corn is distilled to make alcohol and combined with gasoline to make E85. Unfortunately, corn is a poor choice when it comes to the creation of ethanol. Alternatives are on the horizon, though, which could potentially make biofuels a much better choice. Cellulosic ethanol could be considered ethanol version 2.0, with large-scale plants currently being set-up which might be able to offer the fuel at very low prices. When the fact that American roadways are already littered with E85-capable vehicles is added into the mix, cellulosic ethanol stands to make a large dent in our petroleum usage.
Over at the La Pena Cultural Center in Berkeley, California on Wednesday night, the people behind Berkeley's Biofuel Oasis are hosting a biodiesel film night in order to raise funds and biofuel awareness. The funds are intended for BBO's new solar powered fueling station and the awareness, well, that's just there for its own sake. One of the films, Fat of The Land, documents a 1994 trip by four women around the U.S. in a biodiesel-powered "Fat Mobile," making their fuel in fast-food restaurant parking lots. The filmmaker will be attending the festival, so if you have questions on how biodiesel was received by the general public in the mid-1990s, this could be a chance to ask. Other video entertainment on the schedule includes excerpts from Revolution Green and Freedom Fuels. There will also be an "Ask a Mechanic" booth and free homemade organic popcorn. If you've got a biodiesel co-op or other green group in your neighborhood, using the template from this event might be a good idea. Whether you want to include puppetry is up to you.
The Grocery Manufacturers Association. Not a group we hear from a lot on a site dedicated to cleaner vehicle technology. Today, though, in preparation for Earth Day, we saw a message from the GMA titled "This Earth Day, an Unlikely Foe: Biofuels" and wanted to see what they had to say. As the headline suggests, the GMA is taking a stance against biofuels made from food sources and all of the problems that can occur thanks to "the rush to find a 'homegrown' solution to global warming." The GMA invited three people - Lester Brown of the Earth Policy Institute, Ken Cook of the Environmental Working Group, and Jonathan Lewis of the Clean Air Task Force - to Washington, D.C. this week to speak out against using food sources to make biofuels. The short list of what's wrong with growing crops to make fuel are:
increased environmental damage in the form of pollution from coal-fired ethanol refineries
runoff from fertilizer
rapid deforestation in the developing world
an inflationary effect on food prices
potential to prove a major setback to organic farming
We've heard a lot of criticisms of corn-based ethanol in the past, but that the drive to grow more corn for ethanol could hurt the organic farming movement in the U.S. is a new one. Makes sense to me, though. More details in the press release after the jump.
The U.K. has been planning on requiring 2.5 percent of all road fuels sold to come from biofuels, rising to 5 percent by 2010, as part of a plan known as the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO). The time has finally come for that plan to commence, as April 15 marked its official start.
Transport Minister Jim Fitzpatrick says,"Making it easier for motorists to use greener fuel is an important step towards reducing carbon emissions from transport. It should help save millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide in the coming years." Requiring biofuels is not enough, thought, as the methods used to create the fuels and the sustainability of the process is equally as important. The DfT is on it and, starting in September of this year, the Renewable Fuels Agency will publish reports from fuel suppliers regarding the sustainability and environmental impact of the fuels that they deliver.
There are three ways for suppliers to meet the standards as required by the RTFO:
By supplying the relevant amount of biofuel themselves
By purchasing certificates from another transport
By paying a 'buy out' price in respect of some or all of their obligation
Perhaps we could do without the 'buy out' capability, but we'll be monitoring the situation to see how effective the RTFO is in the coming months. Read the press release after the break.
A team of researchers at Iowa State University is developing a new system which promises biomass-sourced ethanol at very efficient production levels. The system, described as an "integrated system of thermochemical and catalytic technologies" is ready to use any kind of biomass, such as cornstalks, to obtain ethanol.
The process works like this: Biomass would be broken down by fast pyrolysis, where the biomass is heated up to 900 degrees Fahrenheit in the absence of oxygen to be converted into a bio-oil. This oil would be gasified with steam and/or oxygen at 1,100 to 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit to produce a synthesis gas, which is then reacted with a nanotechnology-based catalyst to produce ethanol.
The key of this process is the new nano-catalyst based on solid nanospheres just 250 billionths of a meter in diameter that have honeycomb channels running through them.
There are plenty of flex-fuel capable cars on the roads, but there is not nearly enough ethanol available to power all of them on the gasoline alternative. It's no secret that corn-based ethanol is not the answer to our oil woes, but if that's the case, what alternatives should we be looking closest at? Regular readers are surely aware that cellulosic ethanol is the way to go when it comes to alcohol-based fuels, but even with that process, a crop of some sort is required. Additionally, biodiesel offers plenty of advantages over petroleum-based diesel fuel, but an oil-rich crop is required for its creation as well. A new study from the University of Washington was commissioned to find the most desirable crops for biofuels which suggests that algae and fast-growing trees be considered as the cream-of-the-crop, so to speak.
"While some biofuels may be an improvement over traditional fuels, we believe we should focus much more on the biofuels of the future that can be developed in small spaces, rather than extensively on crop lands," according to lead author Martha Groom. "We also must shun biofuels that are grown by clearing biologically-rich habitats, such as tropical rainforests, as has occurred with oil palm and some other biofuels," she adds. The study also recommends that a special look be taken at crops which sequester carbon as they grow.
We may add that another benefit to both algae and fast-growing trees is that nobody is growing them already for food.
As our brothers at Autoblog like to say, it's "officially official." GM has confirmed their plans to offer all Hummers with biofuel-capable engine options. According to Automotive News, a Hummer official has said that the 2009 H2 and H2 SUT will be equipped with flex-fuel engines capable on running on gasoline or ethanol, making them the first such Hummers available. The 2010 Hummer H3 will be offered with a flex-fuel version of GM's direct injection 3.6L V-6 and we've heard plenty of rumblings regarding diesel Hummers too. Currently, the Hummer H3 is offered with a five-cylinder gasoline engine and a 5.3 liter small-block V8, both of which struggle to get fuel mileage in the mid-to-high teens. The H2 is available only with a larger 6.2 liter V8, which, as you can probably surmise, offers dismal fuel economy, and it would use even more fuel if it were running on ethanol. Emissions would probably be improved, but we're still talking about lots of fuel being burned here. We'll be on the lookout for more information on the biofuel capabilities of the Hummer brand, but we remain firmly in the bandaid-on-a-broken-arm camp on this particular announcement.
That Saab loves itself some ethanol is no secret, so it shouldn't be a surprise that the Saab Great Britain's managing director, Jonathan Nash, isn't too pleased with the UK's Chancellor decision to take away the fuel tax rebate for biofuels starting in 2010. Nash said the move shows that the government might be turning its back on biofuels and that the UK will fall behind other European countries on the biofuel front. Nash's full statement is pasted after the jump, but here's a bit of the flavor:
We are fearful that this will do nothing to encourage the use of E85 and could drive up the cost of eco-friendly bioethanol E85 at the pump for the consumer.
That may be, but Nash's biggest mistake here is implying that the UK is in Europe. Doesn't he know how many Britons feel about the Continent?
Oklahoma State University: the school of ethanol made from sweet sorghum. Also, the place where the proprietary microorganisms that Coskata uses in its cellulosic ethanol process came from. OSU certainly is no stranger to biofuels, and a new $1.2m bioenergy laboratory will further research turning plants and other carbon matter into liquid fuel.
According to today's Journal Record, the new laboratory will be the centerpiece in OSU's attempt to secure funding for its interdisciplinary work on biofuels. Ray Huhnke, a biosystems engineer and the coordinator of the various OSU biofuels team members, said the holistic approach will result in "the creation of cost-effective biofuels."
The OSU Biofuels Team has been working together for the past decade. Members come from the OSU Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources; the OSU College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology; the University of Oklahoma; and Brigham Young University. OSU also partners with the Oklahoma Bioenergy Center, which also includes Oklahoma University and the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation of Ardmore.
Petrobras has announced that it's creating a subsidiary company which will work exclusively with biofuels and could become Brazil's leading biofuel exporter. The Brazilian giant believes a new company will create good economies of scale to reduce costs in biofuel production, storage and distribution.
At the same time, the company wants to certify the sustainability of its biofuels. Brazil has been accused of poor work conditions in sugarcane plants, as well as destroying the Amazon forest to plant more soy and sugarcane. Deputy and former minister Antonio Palocci now supports a new international certification entity to guarantee the sustainable provenance of biofuels around the world.
Last night during the Oscar telecast, host Jon Stewart joked to the audience, "Whoever owns the Boeing 707 parked on La Brea Avenue, your landing lights are on." As actor/aviator John Travolta ran onstage and bolted through an exit, Stewart comforted the glitterati, telling them, "Don't worry, it's a hybrid."
Now, while John Travolta is a pilot and really does own a Boeing 707 (finished in classic Quantas livery, as seen here, parked at his home in a private "fly-in" community), the company does not make hybrid jets. Boeing is, however, exploring electric engine starts and, more recently, biofuel-powered jets with Virgin Atlantic. You can watch a video with Branson talking about the Virgin biofuel jet below the fold. For the second year in a row, NRDC also worked with Oscar to reduce the show's ecological footprint with energy coming from wind farms and biodiesel. The Independent Spirit Awards, however, drank Oscar's milk shake by using an even greener power source: Ed Begley Jr.
Yeast, the thing that turns sugars into biofuels like ethanol, gets infections just like we do. Dennis Bayrock, microbiology Professor at the University of Saskatchewan, tells the Star Phoenix he is developing a chemical that is sort of like an "antibiotic" for yeast. The professor's invention stops bacteria from using the sugar, which could mean a few percent greater ethanol output and higher profits for companies. While there are similar chemicals already on the market, the professor says his is much better. The "antibiotic" is currently undergoing trials and major alcohol companies have expressed interest in using the product. It will still take a few years before this gets to market, though.
Yeast can get sick, huh? Ethanol companies should try chicken soup. That works for me.
The U.K. 
A team of researchers at Iowa State University is developing a new system which promises biomass-sourced ethanol at very efficient production levels. The system, described as an "integrated system of thermochemical and catalytic technologies" is ready to use any kind of biomass, such as cornstalks, to obtain ethanol.
That Saab loves itself some ethanol is no secret, so it shouldn't be a surprise that the Saab Great Britain's managing director, Jonathan Nash, isn't too pleased with the UK's Chancellor decision to take away the fuel tax rebate for biofuels starting in 2010. Nash said the move shows that the government might be turning its back on biofuels and that the UK will fall behind other European countries on the biofuel front. Nash's full statement is pasted after the jump, but here's a bit of the flavor:
Petrobras has announced that it's creating a subsidiary company which will work exclusively with biofuels and could become Brazil's leading biofuel exporter. The Brazilian giant believes a new company will create good economies of scale to reduce costs in biofuel production, storage and distribution.
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