The Big Biofuels Blog

Bioethanol is usually used in fixed blends with gasoline, now Honda looks like its developed a range of fully flexible engines...

Acording to the Japanesecarswatch blog

Honda Motor Co., has developed a new flexible fuel vehicle (FFV) system that enables gasoline engine-based power plants to operate on either 100% ethanol or a wide range of ethanol-gasoline fuel mixtures.

Check out this video from a group I've formed on You tube. It is one person's view of what's we need to do on the way forward to make the world a better place.

Technorati Tags: biofuels, solar, sustainability, sustainable, Tag 22, uk, video, youtube

Technorati Tags: America, bioethanol, biofuel, State

Lot of noise in the US about Jay Leno's new custom built “biodiesel” powered jet car, reported on Popular Mechanics, courtesy of Instapundit

They talk quite a bit about biodiesel, but...

Three of the biggest bigwigs in the three biggest US automakers, GM, Daimler Chrysler and Ford, went to Washington yesterday to talk to Bush and Cheney about biofuels. According to an NPR report covered by the Thomko Petro Chemical Blog, the three talked about how the industry plans to save the planet...

The Big Three are doubling their production of flexible-fuel vehicles, capable of running on blends of up to 85% ethanol, by 2010. The industry could seek tax breaks and other incentives from the Bush administration to encourage the building of alternative-energy vehicles

Tax breaks! What an unusual idea! Clearly the big three are about as imaginative as their marketing departments...

But some environmental and consumer groups fault U.S. automakers for failing to take the lead in fuel efficiency. They credit Japanese automakers' success, in part, to their focus on vehicle fuel economy rather than size and engine power -- the emphasis of the SUVs and trucks coming out of Detroit.

Lets not get into innovative working practices, but may be the Japanese makers understand that producing less powerful and more efficient autos is one way of reducing their impact on the planet. Could it be that using ethanol or biodiesel in more efficient cars might be the basis of a successful marketing strategy? Do you think Detroit will get the idea? Or is that a silly question? Let me know. You could also check out Lou Minatti's blog about the visit.

Here's a little comparative media studies

I rest my case

Technorati Tags: America, biodiesel, bioethanol, biofuel, Bush, ethanol, Transport, US

TopGear News tells us that Sir Richard Branson, who’s trying to make his Virgin rail franchise in the UK look nice and green ahead of a decision on renewing it is taken by the UK government, has taken delivery of a bioethanol flex fuel powered Saab.Well he would.

Picture from:www.theadvocates.org

Technorati Tags: bioethanol, biofuel, ethanol, UK

According to Trollhatten Saab, Saab will be launching a range of biofuel powered cars in Australia next year.

Saab Australia Director, Parveen Batish, says with BioPower coming to Australia, Saab can help overcome the ‘chicken and egg’ dilemma of supply and demand when trying to bring a new fuel to market.

“E85 fuel is not currently commercially available in Australia, but because BioPower is a flex-fuel car drivers can fill up with petrol until ethanol fuel is available,” Mr Batish said.

“With this flexibility, we believe Saab can play a role in helping the community take the next step and consider the introduction of ethanol as an alternative, renewable fuel for consumers.”

Nissan yesterday, promised a 100% ethanol-fuelled, according to the Coffee House vehicle by 2009 for Brazil, while also announcing plans for an Armada FFV, or flexible fuel vehicle that can run on any blend of ethanol and gasoline using up to 85 percent ethanol, in the United States next year.

There’s also a range of hybrid type products in development too. Are they leading the curve or lagging, you tell me.

Ford has delivered the 150th Ford Focus Flexible Fuel Vehicle (FFV) registered in Britain to the National Farmers’ Union (NFU). Vice president Paul Temple is using the car, which can run on bioethanol made from UK-grown crops such as wheat and sugar beet, according to Energy news blog.

I've just come across a site in german that tells of the need to take it steady on the biodiesel front, don't use to much or you might damage the car, very few manufacturers say its safe to use, (except for VW and Skoda).

If you fancy giving your German a run round the block check out consumerblog.de

Handily, the site also tells you how to find out how to tell if you're putting biodiesel in your tank.

(They put stickers on the pumps!)

In a significant sign that biofuels (or something very like them) are going to be around for some time into the future Delphi is adapting fuel handling and injection components for biofuels ahead of legislation and car makers specifying the changes, according to Green Car Congress.

The move by Delphi, which also makes flex fuel engine systems is important for two reasons, its size and also because engine designs evolve rather than make great structural leaps of technology.

Lets make sure we minimise the environmental impact of these fuels on the land and water resources and make them truly sustainable for 20, 30 or 50 years...

The British press (of which I am a fully paid up member) is not right about everything all of the time, but its not usually completely off the beam either.

So when they report that drivers in the South East of England are having problems with fuel they bought from Tesco and Morrisons because of ethanol contamination I take an interest.

What the National Press hasn't quite grasped is that some petrol from sold as 99 Octane gas on these supermarkets' forecourts, contains  up to 5% ethanol anyway, and may contain a whole raft of other oxygenates. This is pretty typical of people who work in highly pressured environments to tight deadlines... try it yourself.

What the biofuel industry needs to be doing in the coming weeks and months is devising and implementing a public relations strategy to reassure consumers and sell them the benefits of using biofuels over conventional  gasoline.

This is supplied to Tesco and Morrisons by Greenergy which said in a statement yesterday:

Greenergy is aware of the reports from drivers who are experiencing problems after filling up with fuel in the South East of England. We take quality very seriously and we are doing everything we possibly can to find out what the issue is and whether it is related to us. Over the last 3 years we have sold more than 8 billion liters of fuel into the UK market and have not had any problems. So far we have conducted extensive tests on the fuel supplied to Tesco and Morrisons. We have found it is fully compliant with BSEN 228 - the independent standard everyone works to. We are continuing our investigation and will update you as soon as we
have more information.

Obvious questions to ask are: was the gas contaminated with something else, where did this contamination happen and ultimately who's liable for the engine damage.

I'll be watching for developments

Australian supertruck racing teams will race on biodiesel, according to Yahoo News. So that makes them more environmentally friendly, I guess

Interesting thoughts and information about the UK green petrol problems in the comments on that story further down.

The contaimination is silicone oil, reported on ICIS News (and elsewhere). (I work for ICIS: About ICIS). What interests me, and I'm sure that Tesco, Morrisons, Greenergy, Vopak, who ever shipped the ethanol (and anyone else up the supply chain that I've forgotten) will want to know is: how the silicone oil got into the ethanol.

About the only thing that can be said about silicone oil in this context is that it is oily. It is not remotely similar to ethanol. It is also very much more expensive than either ethanol or the other components of gasoline.

My guess, and it is pure speculation, is that there has been some at some part of the supply chain, and maybe a low viscosity silicone oil was used by the maintainance person to lubricate the seal and to position it. It's siliconE not silicon. (I remember because one is oilE the other makes computer chips). Just to confuse mateters there is silicon in silicone and they'll be testing for the element silicon. .

I particularly like Mark C's plan of getting two independent people to examine the problem and report back, which would be partly funded by the two Supermarket companies. But this may not be necessary if the paperwork is in place and hasn't been tampered with...

Postman Patel gives a roundup of fuel ethanol issues...

Sales of Toyota Prius in the states were up 185% in May compared to the same month last year, according to the Energy Blog. Could fuel economy be becoming important in the US?

Clean as you go and there's more potential biofuel, three inventors from North Wales have developed a box that can capture the exhaust gases of cars so they can be used to grow algae.
There are a number of technical difficulties that need to be overcome. Firstly, how do they stop the exhaust gases choking the engine/blowing the exhaust system apart? Secondly, and one for the plant scientists, Does chlorophyll get as closely attached to carbon monoxide as haemoglobin? if it does then the algae are going to be gonners. But a nice idea, a car that cleans as it goes.

Fuel efficiency to be main focus at Frankfurt Motor Show, according to Product reviews net.

This has to be a good thing. There is little point in people switching to biofuels (which are very resource intensive -- it takes as much corn to fill a gas tank with ethanol as it would to feed a person for a year) and putting them into inefficient vehicles. But Europeans, who generally pay quite a lot for their gas get fuel efficiency. Now if this were a story about the Detroit motorshow and much tighter CAFE regs then, that would be worth reading.

There's probably only a limited appeal for this but my colleague, Barbera, over on Chemical Confidential has a number of drives between or too chemicals plants, some with maps.

There's a graphic post over on Green Wombat, about just how the US is in thrall to inefficent cars. It takes the stance that Silicon Valley is one of the most 'green' areas in California, yet they commute long distances daily in inefficent cars.

I'm going to say it again: There's little point in bothering with fuels based on feedstocks that have high alternative values such as biofuels built on corn ethanol until there is a serious improvement in US automotive fuel efficiency. Switching to biofuels simply leaves more expensive oil in the ground and pushes up the price of foodstuffs.

Getting biofuel to the pump is one of those things that the biofuel industry will have to do if its ever going to succeed. Over on the Huffington Post there's a report by Judy Duggan examining some of the issues that are preventing this.
One thing that she doesn't cover is gasoline distribution infrastructure... which is rather leaky and therefore prone to allow water to mix with the contents of tanks and pipes, that doesn't matter too much if you're selling something that doesn't mix with water as a fuel, but if its ethanol which does absorb water... But it will have to be sorted out if ethanol is mandated. Ther is also the cost to the garage owner of installing the pumps, tanks and so on.
hattip to automotive.com

The city of San Francisco is collecting waste veg oil from restaurants in the city and turning it into biofuel. The programme started on 20 November, the same day the city banned plastic bags. It builds on some of the ideas, in principle at least that were being discussed when I was in San Francisco earlier this year. What do the freelance biofuelers think?

Honda is looking to flex fuel options as it plans approaches to its product range that will help it meet new Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards, according to the Wall St Journal today.

As you might have guessed I'm in favour of more fuel efficient cars, especially in the US, and I'm pretty keen to get hold of the standards when they are available. Hattip to Automotive Digest which has more detail.

“Everybody’s going to have to get with it,” says General Motors’ “car czar, Bob Lutz. “Business as usual is not acceptable.”

That quote comes from The Car Connection Blog. To which I initially thought "blimey" after yesterday's news that GM was going to start supporting biofuel production. Then I thought it again after this quote

But then again, the normally conservative executive suggested that if the country is really serious about slashing fuel consumption, it should bite the bullet and sharply rise fuel taxes.

The best way, he said, “is to use market mechanisms to transition the American (motor vehicle fleet) to something more like what Europeans drive.”

There's also good news that the firm is looking at scrapping some big V6 ad V8 engines, switching to front wheel drive and smaller engines.

The car maker has promised to make 50% of its vehicles capable of running on ethanol-based E85 fuel by 2012, though it remains to be seen if supplies will grow to meet potential demand.

Is the Levitahan turning? will Amercians be sold cars as are high tech, which Europeans would think of as mid tech? and will the Administration take notice and up the tax take on fuel?... stay tuned for more on these themes.

Ethanol powered hybrids could generate much less carbon in use (15 times less, but what does that mean 1/15th or just under 7% of the original amount?) more efficient than gasoline powered cars, according to the EcoGeek, who'd like the different automotive camps to stop arguing and just get along..

Big companies play an important role, too, in this healthy, diverse business ecosystem. They help amplify - through acquisition, licensing, or even copying - the impacts of successful ideas.

Just as dangerous as cultivating a monoculture is picking a "winner" prematurely.

In the recent green energy debate, for example, the U.S. chose to subsidize corn ethanol as the winning new clean fuel, giving $7.0 billion in subsidies in 2006 alone.

Through premature decision making, have we thwarted cheaper and cleaner competitors?

What we should have done, and still can, is to encourage innovators developing a wide range of fuel-alternatives including wind, algae, solar, methanol, and so on. Government should make available research funding, infrastructure, education, incentives, and regulations for the outcome we want, and let the market decide.