Archive for the ‘ethanol’ Category

Hummer is in the midst of a move—from General Motors to China's Sichuan Tengzhong—but the brand has announced details for its 2010 H3 SUV and H3T pickup, which are slated to go on sale next month.

Changes are minimal. The standard engine is still a 239-horsepower, 3.7-liter five-cylinder engine, but most noteworthy is that the H3 line finally gets the Flex Fuel version of GM's 300-horsepower, 5.3-liter V-8. The engine can run either on regular gasoline or any ethanol blend up to 85 percent ethanol, 15 percent gasoline (E85).

Fuel economy ratings stand at 13 mpg city, 16 highway with the V-8, or just 9/12 running on E85.

Features and...

Fill up at almost any pump today and you're likely to see a reminder that what you think of as gasoline can contain up to 10 percent ethanol.

The effect of that much ethanol on your car is relatively benign; it's been allowed since 1978 and over more than three decades the ethanol, mostly sourced from U.S. corn, has helped reduce our reliance on foreign oil.

Now agricultural lobbies, corn producing states, and some alt-fuel advocates are pushing to boost the allowable ethanol content in fuel to 15 percent, from the current 10 percent. A request filed last March, led by four ethanol-producing states, must be approved or denied by December 1.

Algae-based biofuel has gained traction in recent years, but it presents significant financial and scientific challenges. Bottom line: it's a new technology, and it may take years or decades before investors see a profit. That makes venture capitalists skittish. A new project in Colorado, however, may have overcome such hurdles: there, Southern Utes are working with start-up Solix on a promising new algae biofuel project, and it seems that money and time are no object. Must be nice. [NYTimes]