AutoblogGreen reader Michael recently sent in a question regarding the about-to-start "Cash for Clunkers" program. Officially known as the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS), the program allows owners of some older and inefficient vehicles to trade them in and get a rebate check worth up to $4,500 from the government to buy a new car. The simple version of the rules are that the trade-in can't be more than 25 years old, needs to have an official combined highway/city fuel economy rating of less than 18 mpg (on the EPA's new mpg scale), be in drivable condition and you have to have owned and insured the car for at least the year prior to turning it in. Michael's question revolves around what happens when a car has two fuel economy ratings - one for gas and one for ethanol. Turns out, no one really knows yet. Find out more after the jump.

Photo by iboy_daniel. Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0.

While ethanol blended into gasoline can be a comparative good deal (or a possible scam), there's also good money to be made ignoring the biofuel altogether. At least, that's the case for two gas stations in Brevard County, Florida that proudly sell ethanol-free gasoline.

The driving force for the pure gasoline comes, unsurprisingly, from boaters and from motorcycle riders, but also people who want the extra mpgs that come from ditching ethanol. The fuel is sold as recreational gasoline and one station owner calls it a "more rare product." It will get even more rare in a few years. 2011 is a deadline for all gasoline sold in Florida - except for fuel intended for boats, collector cars and small engines - to contain at least some ethanol. For now, anyone can fill up using recreational gasoline, and Florida Today talked to some SUV and boat owners who were more than willing to drive out of their way to the two stations for the corn-free gas.

[Source: Florida Today]

Presidents and biofuels. Seems to be a theme today. Back in February, the Governors' Biofuels Coalition sent a letter to President Obama asking for a stronger ethanol position, specifically asking that the national blend be increased to E13 and that the government consider promoting the sustainability of biofuel feedstocks and making sure there is a market for the finished product (it's something they've called for before). Obama has now responded, saying that the administartion's pro-biofuel stance takend in early May was made with the coalition's letter in mind. In a speech given at that time, Obama talked about a new Presidential Biofuels Directive, the establishment of a Biofuels Interagency Working Group, and how more Recovery Act funds could be used for renewable fuel projects. In the letter to the coalition Obama did not address the E13 suggestion, but did write:

Advanced renewable transportation fuels will be one of the nation's most important industries in the 21st Century. As you well know, the nation's biofuels industry today uses the starch portion of feedgrains as its primary feedstock, which has focused debate on how to accurately measure the greenhouse gas effect of corn-based ethanol. What is often underappreciated in this debate is that the industry is moving toward the utilization of a wide variety of non-grain feedstocks for biofuels.

Does anyone else think he sounds a bit like a condescending science teacher here? I'm sure it sounded better in person.

[Source: Ethanol Producer]

During the big Ethanol Summit 2009 down in Brazil this week, former President Clinton gave a bit of advice to that country's ethanol industry: don't destroy so much forest land just to make biofuel. Clinton said that "everybody" already knows that Brazilian ethanol made from sugar cane is the most efficient biofuel in the world. The problem isn't getting the word out, but potential negative consequences of cutting down more forest in order to plant more crops. "The world would say, if we let Brazil help us solve our problem at the price of more rainforest destruction, have we really gained anything? That's what you have to answer," Clinton said during his speech. Business leaders should see their self-interest in working with the government to help protect the forests, he said, because there are huge political negatives of a cut-and-plant strategy.

[Source: Reuters]
Photo by sskennel. Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0.

Driving around mid-Michigan over the weekend, I couldn't help but notice how much gas prices have jumped in the last few weeks. According to AAA, the national average price for a gallon of regular gas has jumped up 50 cents in the past month to $2.50. Well, this is a good time to have a flex-fuel vehicle if a local Mobil station is representative of a national trend. Filling up with the biofuel around here will save you 38 cents per gallon, which is something to think about even though there's less energy in the corn juice. Actually, according to E85 Prices, the national average difference is about 42 cents a gallon. A gallon of E85 will cost you something like $2.08, they say. What do the signs look like in your neck of the woods?

Don't say ethanol never paid off for anyone. Summitville, Indiana resident Pamela Smith stopped off to buy E85 earlier this month and dropped a few bucks into the Indiana lottery. Luck was with her, and she won the $2.5 million Hoosier Lotto jackpot.

"I was looking for Ethanol gas," Smith in a statement. "I actually went inside the gas station to thank the manager for carrying Ethanol because it's so hard to find. It was an impulse buy for me to purchase one dollar of Lotto and one dollar of Powerball."

Indiana lottery officials said that Smith will take her winnings as a $980,296 lump sum (before taxes). Anyone seen any ethanol company executives down at the corner store lately?

[Source: via Domestic Fuel]

America, your apparent hatred for disfigured fruit means we may have a big, untapped biomass source to make ethanol. Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in Oklahoma has been testing ways to make the simple sugars found in watermelons into ethanol, and the USDA is now reporting some success on that front.

Using watermelons to make ethanol is certainly nothing new. The National Watermelon Association began working with the USDA in 2006 to see if the 700-800 million pounds of blemished melons (and late-season melons that are not worth it for big farms to harvest) could find another life as ethanol instead of being plowed back into the ground.

ARS researcher Wayne Fish has found a way to get about 7/10ths of a pound of ethanol from a 20 pound watermelon. While that sounds like a pretty tiny amount, remember that these melons aren't being grown as a biofuel crop; it's just a way to get some oil independence out of leftover melons.

[Source: USDA]
Photo by moreno0101. Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0.

The debate over corn ethanol, and the federal government's strong support for the biofuel, is being debated across the U.S. Everything from the potential cost for damaged fuel systems to the possible Federal push for E15 is in the news. The discussion has even hit deep into corn country, where the Kansas City Star published a point-counterpoint opinion column yesterday on whether the Feds should continue to subsidize growing corn for ethanol. On the negative side, the corn ethanol mandate "has led to land being taken out of conservation reserves to plant more corn, cultivation practices with dreadful environmental consequences, and increasing demands on fragile groundwater resources." On the pro-corn side, ethanol reduces foreign oil use and "for every billion gallons of ethanol produced, 10,000 to 20,000 people are hired right here in America to do the work." Perhaps the DOE's funding for third-generation biofuels will put the debate to rest, in like fifteen years.

[Source: Kansas City Star]
Photo by dok1. Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is looking into what might happen to the environemnt if the maximum level of ethanol mixed into the national liquid fuel supply is increased from 10 percent (where it is today) to 15. This is raising all sorts of issues, as we've pretty much described to death recently. It looks like the EPA is dealing with a lot of information on the subject, too (or, maybe, not enough), and today the Agency extended the public comment period by 60 days. The whole discussion was kicked off by an application submitted in early March by Growth Energy and 54 ethanol manufacturers asking for a waiver to up the blend to E15 (more details here). The EPA needs to decide on the waiver request by December 1, and the extension of the public comment period will not change that deadline.

[Source: EPA]

The undeniable shift towards E15 continues, but not everyone is liking it. Business Week's Ed Wallace has collected a series of anecdotes that shows what he calls the "unpublicized trend" of ethanol destroying fuel systems in America's cars even without the increase to E15. A lot of mechanics are repairing a lot of fuel systems at around $1,000 a pop, and Wallace writes:

Not one mechanic I've spoken with said they would be comfortable with a 15% blend of ethanol in their personal car. However, most suggest that if the government moves the ethanol mandate to 15%, it will be the dawn of a new golden age for auto mechanics' income.

For Wallace, the problems with corn ethanol (the net energy loss, the increased smog, the reduced mileage) are notable but not as important as the trouble that ethanol gives today's non-flex-fuel engines. And potential engine trouble will be here no matter if the biofuel is made from corn or another process. The Minnesota Ag Department and Underwriters Laboratories both says the higher blend is OK for gas station pumps, but it's looking like we're going to need another round of debate on the value of putting E15 in vehicles not designed for it.

[Source: Business Week]