Green Options

Today at Noon, a Shell service station in Ottawa, Ontario will quietly begin selling cellulosic ethanol blended into regular gasoline. The biofuel is made locally from wheat straw, and as far as we know is the first time cellulosic ethanol has been made publicly available.

The new fuel will only be available for one month, starting on June 10th, but it’s a major step forward for the production of advanced biofuels. All gasoline purchased at the Ottawa station will be a blend of 10% cellulosic ethanol and 90% gasoline (CE10).

Norwegian Finance Minister, Kristin Halvorsen, and her Socialist Left Party have put forth a plan that would disallow the sale of new cars that run solely on gasoline after 2015.

Under the plan new cars such as hybrids, that run partially on gas, would still be allowed to be sold in the country, but any cars that only use gas as their power source would be illegal. Cars already on the road would be unaffected.

Struggling Indian car company Tata Motors has announced the commercial launch of the Tata Nano, the most fuel-efficient petrol-driven car in India, and quite possibly the world.

The Tata Nano, keenly anticipated across India since its unveiling early last year, is capable of an incredible 23.6km/litre (55.5 mpg) and ultra-low carbon emissions of 101 g/km, one of the lowest in India. Oh, and with prices starting at about 100,000 rupees ($2,050), it’s also the cheapest car in the world (more pics after the jump).

The Renewable Fuels Association finds errors in last week’s University of Minnesota study on the pitfalls of corn ethanol.

The major problem with corn ethanol doesn’t come in its emissions while a car is in motion; it comes from the energy-intensive process used to make it in the first place, and the fertilizer needed to grow corn.

U.S. House of Representatives passed a $14 billion government rescue bailout for the automobile industry. This plan would provide emergency loans to General Motors and Chrysler; however, Ford has stated it will not seek out federal loans. GM and Chrysler claim they will not be in business much longer without federal assistance.

Researchers reported Monday that they have re-engineered a common bacteria to produce complex and energy-dense alcohols similar to the hydrocarbon compounds found in fuels such as gasoline. This is the first time these types of alcohols have been synthesized by bacteria (man-made or otherwise) in the lab.

E. coli is normally found in the guts of most warm-blooded animals (yes, even yours) and if you’ve had an encounter with it that you remember, chances are you spent the weekend on the toilet wishing you were dead. Yet, while it’s true that some strains of e. coli can cause food poisoning in humans, most are actually quite harmless.

After what seems like an endless period of record-high gasoline prices, gas station signs are changing almost constantly as the cost for a gallon of gas tumbles. Although the numbers vary depending on where you are, the trend is the same: prices have hit the bottom of the (oil) barrel.

As I write, the lowest average price in America for a gallon of regular unleaded is $1.683 in Oklahoma, while the highest is $2.866 in Alaska.1 Whatever the exact figures, they are far more than half of what they were when prices were at their highest.

As I have watched prices plummet, I have felt my joy and relief rising in an inversely proportional ratio. I also know how many others feel the same, given the fact that commuting is a necessity for many folks…and that many folks drive a lot farther than I do and do not have a hybrid to help reduce consumption.

High gas prices have had serious effects on people’s lifestyles across the world, not to mention other things such as cost of food and other goods. People have been driving less and still paying more for just about everything, causing serious problems for people on fixed incomes or with large families, for instance. We have also witnessed the virtual death of the SUV…though you can still find a Hummer barreling down the highway now and again, gas prices be damned.

Ironically, Americans are lucky when it comes to gas prices. Consumers in many other countries pay a great deal more for their fuel, due to lack of subsidies, higher taxes, or other factors. According to NationMaster.com, the top five for gas prices are Uruguay, United Kingdom, Israel, Argentina, and Japan. America comes in at #102, fairly low on the list of 141 countries; the lucky last is Turkmenistan, of all places!2

Still, gas prices are dropping worldwide, whatever that means country by country and state by state. But with all the joy I am feeling, and just about every other human being is feeling, I also wonder if cheaper gas is not really a good thing.

The technology to make biobutanol, a non-food based biofuel, cost-competitive with gasoline isn’t here yet, but companies in the know say that it could be by 2010.

Regardless of how the debate between corn ethanol and second-generation, non-food ethanol (cellulosic ethanol) pans out, we may be arguing about the wrong thing. “Why’s that?” you might ask. You see, as a source of fuel, ethanol poses several serious problems.

If you think you’ve heard words like change, climate change, and gasoline a lot from our presidential candidates, you’re right. The Global Language Monitor, which has been tracking the entire Obama/McCain showdown, puts them as the top three “buzzwords” in this election.

In what could be a major breakthrough for second generation ethanol production, German researchers have developed a new method that easily converts raw wood into sugar using a liquid ionic salt bath at room temperature followed by reaction with a solid acid resin.

The process works by chopping the complex raw wood molecules into smaller and simpler bits — the end product being single sugar molecules. The method can also be used on other second generation ethanol feedstocks such as grass straw. Once you’ve made the sugar, the rest of the process of making ethanol is as simple as making beer — literally.