Gas 2.0

An analysis done by Biofuels Digest has come to the very surprising conclusion that an electric car will produce 30% more carbon dioxide emissions over its lifetime than a car powered by E85 corn ethanol. Not only that, the study also found that the same electric car will produce 21% more carbon dioxide than even a gasoline powered car.

These claims assume that 100% of the electricity for the EV comes from coal-fired power plants and that a comparable car would get 35 mpg—both of which seem like unrealistic assumptions. So I dug around the internet today to try and come up with more realistic numbers.

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With the attention on first generation corn ethanol fading, the next big thing on the sustainable fuel horizon is nonfood biofuel crops. Within that category, inedible weeds are taking a front-row seat due to their relatively low demands on water, pesticides, and herbicides, and their reduced need for tilling and other mechanized soil prep. Some weeds with biofuel potential can also thrive on contaminated soils, absorbing and cleaning pollutants in a process called phytoremediation.

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You might wonder why Iraq, one of the most oil-rich countries in the world, would want to invest in building up its biofuels sector. At first blush it seems like a stretch of resources for a country trying to recover after years of war.

However, In Iraq the agricultural sector has long been the dominant source of jobs. In fact, much of modern agriculture was developed in the Iraqi area over 7,000 years ago. With the recent devastation caused by the instability of war coupled with an extended drought, those jobs have disappeared. So, although Iraq does have the third largest oil reserves in the world, its agricultural sector is in many ways more important to its economic recovery.

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Bugatti’s latest concept car points the way forward for the brand most associated with excess: excessive wealth, excessive power, excessive luxury, and excessive performance… but the new Galibier signifies something more, as well, and it is nothing less than a turning of the tide in the way the world’s automakers see their flagship luxury cars.

More on Bugatti’s million-dollar flex-fuel Galibier — including video! — after the jump.

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We’ve covered the numerous benefits of ethanol-based fuels over and over on this blog, but rarely through the eyes of the gearhead speed-junkies that make up the core of America’s automotive enthusiasts and enthusiast press.   If you’ve spoken to this bunch, you already that most talk of climate change and Peak Oil concerns fall on deaf ears.  What matters is power, everything else is irrelevant.

Of course, it’s easier to simply ignore this group, but the (sad?) truth of the matter is that many consumer still make their purchasing decisions based on what their “car friends” tell them.  In short:  this group, more than any other, is a group that must be reached for the “green car” movement to really take hold.

Enter:  Dyno-Comp.

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Algae, algae, algae. The research that is occurring on this second generation fuel has overfloweth the petri dish as just this week there have been five major algae announcements.

1. W2 Energy, based in Canada, announced that it has completed its Sunfilter commercial scale algae bioreactor.
2. Algaeventure Systems said that it has begun receiving orders for its algae harvesting, dewatering, and drying technology. The company that has placed the order is General Atomics.
3. Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) at University of North Dakota was awarded a subcontract by SAIC to use its proprietary technology to produce jet fuel from algal oils.
4. Kent BioEnergy, based on California, announced that it is going to establish a division of the company in Charleston South Carolina, partnering with a Grant Know, a local entrepreneur.
5. Algenol Biofuels, a Florida based company, has threatened to leave the state and now they are working with CEO Paul Woods to entice his company to stay. Read the rest of this entry »

Who needs a gas station to fill your tank with ethanol? Not you. GreenHouse has just announced the E-Fuel MicroFueler, a portable in-home micro-refinery system that turns organic waste into ethanol. The first installation of the E-Fuel MicroFueler was in the home of none other than basketball great Shaquille O’Neal, who lives in Pacific Palisades a subdivision in LA.

The E-Fuel MicroFueler coverts the organic waste into ethanol for about two-thirds the cost of gasoline. The final product is E100 (100 percent ethanol) which burns cleaner emitting significantly less emissions into the air. The only vehicles designed to run on E100 are the IndyCars which in 2007 became the first motorsports league to sanction a renewable fuel. Read the rest of this entry »

A national consumer awareness campaign aimed at owners of flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) was officially launched in Orlando, Florida today at the Farm-to-Fuel Summit. The project is a cooperative effort between key Florida state government interests, gasoline/E85 distributors, the ethanol industry, and several nonprofit environmental and energy advocacy groups.

Ironically, Florida has one of the largest contingencies of FFVs in the country. Out of the current 8 million FFVs on the road, 500,000 are Florida residents. I know most of you assume they are in the Midwest but can you say snowbirds? Like many other states announcing initiatives to spur the development of alternative fuels such as ethanol, Florida is no different. At the helm of this initiative is Charles Bronson, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Read the rest of this entry »

A lot of concern has been expressed about ethanol.  From the overuse of antibiotics to watering down Waxman-Markey in support of corn farmers, it is questionable as to whether ethanol is the solution America needs for its foreign oil dependency. Thomas R. Blakeslee of the Clearlight Foundation thinks we are better off using corn for Combined Heat and Power (CHP) biomass power plants to run electric vehicles rather than converting it to ethanol. Read the rest of this entry »

“Recent analyses of the energy and greenhouse-gas performance of alternative biofuels have ignited a controversy that may be best resolved by applying two simple principles,” begins the summary from a new joint research paper entitled, “Beneficial Biofuels - The Food, Energy and Environment Trilemma“. The paper was published in the July 17, 2009 issue of Science.

“In a world seeking solutions to its energy, environmental, and food challenges, society cannot afford to miss out on the global greenhouse-gas emission reductions and the local environmental and societal benefits when biofuels are done right. However, society also cannot accept the undesirable impacts of biofuels done wrong.” Read the rest of this entry »

In a macabre When Life Deals You Lemons - Make Lemonade kind of news item: Researchers are considering that perhaps we could safely reuse radioactive land: to grow crops for biofuel.

Growing food is still too dangerous in southeastern Belarus because the region is still so contaminated by fallout from Chernobyl that crops grown there cannot safely be eaten by humans for hundreds of years, until the radioactive isotopes decay.

Yet 1.5 million mostly older people have not left, and some are in fact growing some grain on the contaminated land anyway. The radioactive material concentrates in roots and stalks, which they just plough back into the ground after harvesting. As a result; the soil is still almost as contaminated now as it was after the accident.

Things could not be much worse there than they are now and the Belarus government is open to new ideas. So when an Irish company had the idea of remediating the soil by planting a biofuel crop, Belarus was more open to the idea than you might imagine:
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It’s hard being an environmental celebrity, especially when you are Royal too. People want to see you, but that can mean racking up a lot of carbon miles.

So Prince Charles had his Aston Martin converted to run on bio-ethanol made from aged English wine, and his Audi, Jaguar, and Range Rover all run on what the English call old cooking fat.

In the US we call this reused cooking oil because that’s much hipper and greener sounding, and marketing is everything.

So now Prince Charles is driven in the royal Jaguar that runs on homemade biodiesel and, for a little variety; in the Land Rover or the Audi, in a carbon conscious fashion.

But what about his airplane travel? Well…
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Ethanol and biodiesel industry groups reacted quite differently to EPA’s decision to extend public comment period on the Renewable Fuel Standard.

The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday said it was extending the comment period on a draft rule that aims to cut the greenhouse gases emitted by biofuels. The proposed changes to the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard, known as RFS-2, are an attempt to make the production of corn-based ethanol more efficient and increase the output of advanced biofuels. Read the rest of this entry »

There’s an electric car revolution underway in sleepy Browntown, Wisconsin, population 252.

More than six Sebring-Vanguard CitiCars, many zipping down the country roads in southwestern Wisconsin, are registered to owners in this small town – most to Phil Welty and one to myself.  They come in red, yellow and several other colors and look like a wedge of cheese, but they’re all completely powered by electric motors.  It’s estimated that as few as 600 CitiCars are still on the road in the U.S. with less than 3,000 manufactured by Sebring-Vanguard between 1974 and 1976 during the last energy crisis.

“When I first saw the CitiCars back in the 1970s, it was the only all-electric car on the market,” recalls Phil Welty,  “The same problem exists today as in the 1970s, like high fuel prices and our marriage to foreign oil.  I’ve always wanted to bring one back from the junkyard and restore it to fully operable condition.”  Not content with just one, he has two CitiCars on the road, using his other cars for parts.

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Today, the oil industry has become a player in the auto industry. ExxonMobil is launching the Maya 300, a lithium-ion battery powered car that can drive up to 120 miles on one charge yet has the look and feel of a gasoline-powered car.

This announcement comes on the heels of a whirlwind of investments by the oil industry to help position them as players in the biofuels industry. Many oil companies have either purchased ethanol or biodiesel plants and/or made investments in cellulosic technology and development companies. Does this announcement set the stage for the rise of other players to take over the helm of U.S. auto industry?

The Maya 300 was developed in conjunction with Electrovaya, a pioneer in the development and manufacturing of Lithium Ion SuperPolymer battery systems. The two companies have worked together to, “develop the innovative urban vehicle that will be a ‘game changer’ in advancing transportation alternatives.” ExxonMobil actually developed the lithium-ion battery separator film and was the first company to introduce the lithium-ion battery in 1991. Read the rest of this entry »