Photo by Eric Charlton. Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0.

Everyone who follows the biofuel industry knows that the future of ethanol lies in cellulose. While corn is today's big feedstock, the potential to make ethanol cheaper and with less of an impact on food prices and the environment by using cellulosic materials is calling venture capitalists, the auto industry and many others. In the U.S. today there are more than a dozen companies that have gotten at least a few steps down the path of building cellulosic ethanol plants. There's a list of each company with an explanation and an interactive map of the plants over at earth2tech.

Companies like Coskata, Mascoma, Range Fuels, Poet and Verenium are familiar names on AutoblogGreen, but earth2tech also mentions ZeaChem and Abengoa Bioenergy, among others, which are less frequent visitors. While all of these companies are using their own production methods to turn wood waste or old tires or waste sludge or whatever into ethanol, no one has a lock on the future of cellulosic ethanol. Good.

[Source: earth2tech]

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Sorry to anyone in Atlanta who could've used this information today, but I just noticed it now: a half-dozen fuel stations are offering E85 for $1.85 a gallon tomorrow. The low price - subsidized/sponsored by the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC), Clean FUEL Distribution, Indore Oil and BP - also happened today at six other stations. The deal is here because these 12 shops are all new ethanol retailers (Wonder how the post office feels about this?), and EPIC and the other promoters want people to fill up their flex-fuel vehicles with the biofuel. Speaking of which, only vehicles can be tanked during the two-hour sale, not portable gas carriers. If you're interested in buying the fuel, you can click on the image above to read the list of stations better or visit the EPIC website for more information.

[Source: EPIC]

First, some history:

• March 2008: $1.85 a gallon in Iowa.
• October 2007: $0.00 a gallon in Wisconsin.
• August 2007: $1.85 a gallon in South Dakota.
• May 2007: $1.85 a gallon in Iowa.

These are just some of the recent ethanol (E85) promotions that companies like GM and groups like the American Lung Association have offered. Tomorrow there's another event, this time at a Kum & Go station in Norwalk, Iowa. For four hours (between 10 am and 2 pm) E85 is on offer for $1.60 a gallon. Full details after the jump.

Say what you will about corn ethanol (and we do, don't worry), the food for fuel debate, and the high cost of gas for most of the country, for at least a few people, filling up the flexfuel car won't hurt quite as much tomorrow as it usually does. Take it for what it's worth.

Photo by Hummanna. Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0.

Brazilian president Luis Inazio Lula da Silva is eager to shoot down anyone who says ethanol raises the price of food. There are plenty of people with their own ideas about that. But what about the impact ethanol has on oil prices? If we believe the Renewable Fuels Association, then ethanol plays a solid role in keeping oil prices about 15 percent lower than they might otherwise be (so, around $130+ per barrel if ethanol weren't in the picture). The reason for this is because burning ethanol reduces the world's demand for oil, and decreased demand lowers prices. The 15 percent figure comes from Merrill Lynch analyst Francisco Blanch, who spoke to the Wall Street Journal. While that may sound good at first blush, the reporter on the WSJ piece, Patrick Barta, begins his article this way: "The world's economy is acquiring a new energy addiction: biofuels." Anyone else hear warning bells?

[Source: Domestic Fuel / WSJ]

While we spent a lot of late 2007 talking about the very real ethanol glut that was happening in America, the good news for people who have a lot invested in the biofuel (farmers, for one) is that prices have been on the upswing since mid-November. According to an article in the Wichita Eagle, the rebound is taking the form of a 35-cent-per gallon increase and is "within 10 cents of the wholesale price of unleaded gasoline." There is still plenty of ethanol available, but with fewer plants being built (and those that are are not being completed on schedule), prices are increasing. Once the distribution system is improved - and more people realize they can fill their flexfuel cars with ethanol - the glut will likely disappear and the supply and demand will be back in balance.

[Source: Kansas.com via Domestic Fuel]

Citibank says that the current low ethanol prices are going to last another six months or so. Until prices do go up, according an article by Robert Pore in the Grand Island Independent, the price of gas at the pump should remain somewhat low, thanks to that 10 percent ethanol blend in most of the gasoline supply in the U.S. Pore spoke with Steven Sorum of the Nebraska Ethanol Board, who said that the current excess ethanol production is what's driving prices down.

While Nebraska certainly makes a lot of ethanol, I do not think that Pore got his facts right from Randy Klein, director of market development for the Nebraska Corn Board. Pore writes that Klein told him that now that Nebraska makes 1 billion gallons of ethanol a year, Nebraska is "completely self-sufficient energy-wise, especially with all vehicles in the state operate on 100 percent ethanol." Say what? That's just incorrect.

Still, I think we can take Pore's point that cheap ethanol making up 10 percent of the gasoline can make the overall price for that gas cheaper. Farmers probably aren't happy about this, but if Citibank is correct, next year they'll be happy and everyone who buys gasoline won't be, not as much anyway.

[Source: Grand Island Independent]