It's either a visionary look at the future or an early call for help, but Royal Dutch Shell executive Rob Routs today called for the oil and auto industries to cooperate more than they have in the past.

As noted in Automotive News (subs req'd), Routs said, "In the future I see [that] the business of making cars and the business of producing energy will be more linked than ever before. ... These [social and environmental] costs are increasingly unaffordable, especially as today's 900 million vehicles might grow to some 1.2 billion three decades from now."

Routs made the comments at the Automotive News Europe's New Powertrain Technologies Conference in Amsterdam. He also said that Shell's gas-to-liquid diesel blends provide a five percent CO2 emission reduction. He didn't say how much CO2 is emitted to make the GTL product compared to making straight diesel.

We'll keep our eye out for more news on Shell's second-generation biofuel that can be made from agricultural waste, straw or wood chips.

Actually, Routs' call is probably neither of the two choices I set up at the beginning of this post. It's more likely just good business strategy.

Related:

• Shell plans to quadruple Canadian oil sands production
• Shell president prefers E85 from biomass waste, not corn

[Source: Automotive News (subs req'd)]

Using corn to create ethanol is becoming rather widespread these days, as farmers and certain political entities have been pushing it as a fuel alternative for the last several years. Almost all of us have used ethanol in our cars, whether we wanted to or not, as it has been used in a blend with gasoline for years now.

Corn may not be the best source for ethanol, however, as there is not enough of it to go around, nor enough land to grow enough. Opponents of corn for ethanol would rather see the corn eaten than used for fuel. Researchers from colleges in Michigan and Ohio have a possible solution brewing: use peat instead of corn. Peat is half rotted plant matter that covers much of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. In fact, Michigan ranks behind just Alaska and Minnesota in peat resources.

Peat is easily and cheaply collected and, the researchers say, easily restored. Work continues on a natural enzyme to convert peat to ethanol. It has already been done, but not under practical conditions. The researchers say that they hope to use the "pethanol" to power fuel cells without using on-board hydrogen storage to power small vehicles, such as golf carts.

Related:

• Xethanol Juices Ethanol From Orange Peel
• Ethanol use must increase according to Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota
• Shell president prefers E85 from biomass waste, not corn
• September sets another ethanol production record, sales also strong
• MIT scientists make progress in engineering yeast to make more ethanol

[Source: detnews.com]