GM & Governors Push for More Biofuel Stations

By Paul Eisenstein July 14th, 2008

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By the end of the year, there will be somewhere in the range of 10 million American vehicles on the road capable of running on alternative - and mostly renewable - fuels. That's the good news. The bad news is that the vast majority of those cars, trucks, and crossovers continue to run exclusively on gasoline.

Almost all of those vehicles are capable of running on ethanol, or at least the 85 percent alcohol/15 percent gasoline mix known as E85. But finding that blend can be confounding for even the most green-minded motorist. At the moment, industry experts estimate, no more than 1,700 of the nation's 170,000 service stations have E85 pumps.

While that's a big increase - on a percentage basis - from just two years ago, when the figure was somewhere around 600 to 700 E85 pumps, ethanol proponents have been frustrated and are looking for ways to sharply ramp up the rollout of the renewable fuel. A new partnership between General Motors and the National Governors Association could help.

"As we face this current energy crisis, we must do more to Americanize our energy sources and reduce our dependence on foreign oil," Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty said during the opening of the NGA's annual meeting. "An important part of that effort is promoting the use of homegrown alternatives. This collaboration with GM will help increase the availability of E85 around the country, providing more consumer choice and moving us toward a more secure energy future."

The partners aren't setting a specific pump target. GM said it will help the organization - and its member governors - target the best locations for new E85 outlets. They have a long way to go to meet the goals of the energy bill passed by Congress last year. It calls for the country to use 36 billion gallons of renewable fuel by 2022, several times current levels.

For their part, the Big Three Detroit makers have promised to equip at least half their vehicles - by 2012 - to be able to run on E85, gasoline, or any blend in between.

Not everyone is pleased by the focus on alcohol fuels. Some experts have blamed the diversion of food crops, such as corn, for the recent run-up in global food prices. Meanwhile, there's concern that in some parts of the world, such as Indonesia and Brazil, rain forests are being cut down to make way for new croplands in order to produce, corn, sugar, palms, and other renewable fuel sources.

One alternative gaining traction is cellulosic ethanol, which can create the alcohol fuel from non-food sources, such as forestry scraps. GM has announced investments in several of the start-up companies that hope to produce this form of E85.

Tags: Biofuels, e85, ethanol, general motors, GM, renewable fuels

Posted in : Industry

Ethanol: Gone with the Wind – And Rain and Drought?

By Paul Eisenstein July 1st, 2008

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Hurricanes Katrina and Rita gave Americans their first real taste of high gasoline prices three years ago, when they struck the Gulf Coast. Damaging both offshore oil rigs and refineries, the storms disrupted the flow of a quarter of the nation's fuel supply, driving prices at the pump over $3 a gallon for the first time.

While the storms that have saturated much of the Midwest this summer, putting vast regions along the Mississippi River underwater, have had far less of an impact on gas supplies, they have created other serious energy concerns. With corn fields drenched and the growing season delayed or even lost in some parts of Iowa and surrounding states, the price of ethanol, which had hit a $1.50-a-gallon low last September, has nearly doubled.

That's raising serious concerns, particularly among those who connect the dots between global warming and increasingly volatile weather patterns. And that's all the worse, critics contend, with the anticipated expansion in demand for ethanol and other biofuels. How much remains uncertain, but this year alone, global production of the alcohol-based fuel is expected to rise by 350,000 barrels to 1.4 million bbl annually.

"Our energy policy is like playing Russian roulette with every chamber loaded," cautions Lawrence Goldstein, of the Energy Policy Research Foundation, told the International Herald Tribune. "We've doubled up on the weather risk."

Actually, ethanol backers contend, we may have lucked out, as only two of 160 U.S. ethanol refineries were forced to temporarily close as a result of the recent storms. And, they counter, ethanol and other biofuels provide us an alternative to weather and other problems that might disrupt oil supplies.

But there is little doubt that the Iowa disaster is causing proponents to look at the potential problems weather and other issues can create as we look for ways to increase our dependence on agricultural resources. One possible solution would reduce dependence on food stuff for ethanol production.

Indeed, last week, Mascoma, a start-up producer with ties to General Motors, announced plans to set up an ethanol plant in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The location may seem out of the way, but the company will make use of wood scraps from the state's forestry industry, using a new process celled cellulosic. A wide range of waste products can be used, and that, in the long run, could help the ethanol industry minimize both the potential effects of weather - and the criticism it has taken for helping drive up worldwide food prices.

Tags: cellulosic ethanol, corn, e85, ethanol, fuel prices, gas prices

Posted in : Industry

Green Challenge Rules Revealed

By Paul Eisenstein June 26th, 2008

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Forget SUVs and pickups. For the tree-hugging crowd, perhaps nothing symbolizes profligate waste more than motor sports. OK, we realize those NASCAR guys and their high-tech counterparts at Formula One don't exactly clock a lot of miles per gallon, but for what it's worth, an entire F1 season uses less fuel than the jet you took for your European vacation last year.

Recognizing the need to paint a green patina on its image, motor sports promoters are pushing to appear more environmentally friendly. Indy, for example, is running on renewable ethanol, and General Motors' entry into the American Le Mans Series, a Corvette, is being fueled by the gas/ethanol mix, E85.

ALMS has been pushing hard to develop a more environmentally friendly direction. And it has just announced the rules and regulations for its new Green Challenge series, which will kick off with a race-within-a-race at the Petit Le Mans on October 4 at Road Atlanta. The series, co-sponsored by U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and SAE International, will expand to all ALMS races in 2009.

Participants will be judged by their results on the track, but along with performance, metrics will include fuel efficiency and their environmental impact. Cars will be ranked by the:

-- amount of energy they use
-- greenhouse gases (GHG) they emit
-- amount of petroleum they displace

Think of it this way: The cars that go the farthest and fastest, and have the lowest environmental impact, will get the lowest scores. And in the Green Challenge, the lowest number wins.

"This has been an interesting and challenging process," said Scott Atherton, president and CEO of the American Le Mans Series. "With four different classes of cars, 14 auto and chassis manufacturers, and three different alternative fuels to take into consideration, a formula of how to create a fair competition with real-time analysis and a format that is easy to understand and communicate has been very difficult."

There will be two separate awards for the Green Challenge: one to the lowest score among the prototype classes (LMP1 and LMP2) and one to the lowest score among the GT classes (GT1 and GT2). Thus, the Prototype and the Grand Touring (GT) race car that uses the least energy and petroleum and that emits the fewest greenhouse gases on a distance- and speed-equalized basis will be declared the winners.

Tags: american le mans series, chevrolet corvette, e85, ethanol, motor sports, racing

Posted in : Industry

McCain Wants to End Oil Dependence

By Paul Eisenstein June 24th, 2008

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Michigan is likely to be one of the big battlegrounds in this year's presidential race, and both candidates are preparing to wage war with their own take on the issue of oil and the auto industry. Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, pulled the wraps off his own plans this week, promising to break America's dependence on oil.

Among other things, the Arizona Senator says he'll set tough new mileage targets for automakers, tax credits designed to encourage buyers to opt for more fuel-efficient vehicles, and hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to battery developers.

"The unwise policies of our government have left America's energy future in the control of others," McCain declared, during a Fresno, California, campaign stop, in a swipe at Congress and the Bush Administration. "We're going to produce more, conserve more, and invent more," McCain added. "And to a large extent, this strategy hinges on innovations in the cars and trucks we drive."

But the candidate's proposals drew criticism, as well, from his presumed Democratic opponent, Barack Obama. The Illinois Senator accused McCain of "tinkering at the edges," rather than addressing the oil issue head-on.

Advisers insist McCain is looking for a range of solutions, rather than favoring any single alternative. But one of the more significant parts of his speech outlined plans to use a proposed $300 million award to encourage the development of battery technology "that has the size, capacity, cost and power to leapfrog the commercially available plug-in hybrids or electric cars."

Among the many oil alternatives under development, McCain said he sees ethanol-based E85 as one of the most ready fixes to the nation's petroleum fixation.

Meanwhile, he proposed a $5,000 credit for consumers who buy vehicles producing no carbon dioxide emissions.

Sounding a tough note, the Republican said there is no longer time to wait for solutions to come along. "Whether it takes a meeting with automakers during my first month in office, or my signature on an act of Congress, we will meet the goal of a swift conversion of American vehicles away from oil."

Tags: barrack obama, battery cars, e85, ethanol, fuel prices, John McCain

Posted in : Industry

Nissan Announces Battery Deal – EVs Looming Larger

By Paul Eisenstein May 20th, 2008

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Nissan will take a critical step in bringing next-generation lithium-ion batteries closer to mass production, a move meant to support the automaker’s goal of putting electric vehicles into production by the end of the decade.

As TheCarConnection.com first reported, late last month, Nissan has launched a series of test programs aimed at measuring the potential for advanced electric vehicles. With the strong support of CEO Carlos Ghosn, the automaker intends to start marketing an all-new EV to U.S. fleet buyers starting in 2010, with retail sales set to begin in 2012.

To get there requires new, high-powered versions of the lithium-ion batteries now used in consumer electronics, such as cell phones and laptop computers. Manufacturers will have to improve power levels, improve reliability – and lower cost. Nissan believes it has the formula. The automaker plans to invest 12 billion yen -- $115 million – over the next three years in its joint venture with Japan’s electronics giant, NEC Corp. The partners hope to ramp up production of advanced lithium batteries to as much as 65,000 packs annually by 2011. Most of that production would be earmarked for automotive applications.

Written off as dead just a few years ago, electric vehicles seem poised for a comeback, but while some manufacturers are exploring the potential of products battery by batteries alone, the industry remains primarily focused on hybrids, whether using gasoline, diesel, or some newer, alternative fuels, such as ethanol and hydrogen.

But spurred on by Ghosn, Nissan is betting that newer batteries will overcome past obstacles, including high cost and limited range, and help make a reality out of products, such as the quirky little Pivo2, shown above.

Tags: battery cars, electric vehicles, ethanol, EVs, NEC, Nissan

Posted in : Industry