Domestic Fuel

The latest Chevy to hit the streets, the new 2014 Chevrolet Cruze Clean Turbo Diesel, capable of using B20 biodiesel blends, is being touted as getting better mileage that some hybrids out there. This company news release points out the Cruze Clean Turbo Diesel gets an industry best EPA-estimated 46 MPG on the highway, better than any non-hybrid passenger car in America:

“We harnessed generations of diesel expertise to adapt our world-class global engine for the North American market,” said Gary Altman, chief engineer, Chevrolet Cruze Diesel. “The Cruze Diesel is the best diesel passenger car out there. Chevrolet is redefining the meaning of great fuel economy with this car.”

Cruze Diesel also beats its rivals in performance with a segment-leading estimated 148 horsepower (110 kW) and estimated 258 lb-ft of torque (350 Nm), and can go 0-60 in about 8.6 seconds. Its advanced 2.0L turbo-diesel engine has an overboost feature capable of increasing torque to an estimated 280 lb-ft (380 Nm) for short bursts of stronger acceleration when needed, such as entering freeway traffic.

While Chevy touts the Cruze Diesel as its cleanest diesel passenger car engine, generating 90 percent less Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) and particulate emissions when compared to previous-generation diesels. Just think how much cleaner it will be when you use clean-burning biodiesel in it.

Representatives from General Motors, Toyota, Honda, Volkswagen and Mercedes Benz talked “Future Fuels and Higher Octane” at the National Ethanol Conference last week in Las Vegas.

Kristy Moore, Vice President, Technical Services, Renewable Fuels Association moderated the panel and said the manufacturers are facing some real challenges.

“They are under significant pressure to create a vehicle that meets these regulatory requirements and meets a 54.5 fleet economy MPG by 2025,” adding that consumers don’t want to give up the size and convenience their SUVs are giving them now.

Coleman Jones, Biofuel Implementation Manager, General Motors, pointed to Brazil, where that country made the regulatory and tax changes in favor of E100 vehicles but faced some real challenges when oil prices fell dramatically, and consumers became worried whether they could get the high-blend fuels and use those vehicles. That’s when automakers recognized being flexible was the way to go. “In 2003, General Motors and Volkswagen introduced flex-fuel vehicles. These proved to be spectacularly successful in the marketplace. This is what the customer wanted.”

Matthew Kevnick, Senior Principal Engineer, Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing N.A. talked about how his company will be incorporating E15 into its owners manuals. Honda North America’s Vice President of Government and Industry Relations, Ed Cohen, said they want electric and fuel cell vehicles. Stuart Johnson, Senior Manager, Volkswagen Group of America, told the gathering they are releasing a full line of gasoline engines and incorporating FFVs, while Bill Woebkenberg, U.S. Fuels Technical and Regulatory Affairs, Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America, Inc., said his company is interested in higher octane with higher level blends of ethanol.

Listen to the panel discussion here: NEC 13 Car Panel

2013 National Ethanol Conference Photo Album

2013 NEC Golf Tournament Photo Album

The 2013 National Automobile Dealers Association and American Truck Dealers convention kicks off this week in Orlando, Florida and heading into the event General Motors has announced it new 2014 Chevy Cruze light-duty diesel passenger car is approved for use with B20 (20 percent biodiesel).

“We applaud General Motors for its foresight in approving the new diesel Chevy Cruze for use with B20 biodiesel blends,” said Steve Howell, Technical Director for the National Biodiesel Board (NBB).  “Many people do not realize that today’s new technology diesel engines powered by ultra-low sulfur biodiesel blends provide tailpipe emissions as clean or cleaner than natural gas or gasoline, while providing superior fuel economy, horsepower, and durability.”

“In addition,” said Howell, “when you combine the increased efficiency diesel engines with the low carbon nature of an Advanced Biofuel like biodiesel, new technology diesel engines are positioned to become the clean-and green-technology of the future, and we’re proud to see GM leading the way with its support for B20.”

The 2014 Chevrolet Cruze Clean Turbo Diesel features an advanced 2.0L clean diesel engine that will offer an estimated 42 mpg highway with an automatic transmission and based on GM testing. According to NBB, clean diesels using modern diesel exhaust technology and ultra low sulfur fuel are over 90 percent cleaner than older models, and the Chevy Cruze is the cleanest diesel passenger car model ever produced by General Motors.

Other automakers are adding biodiesel-approved vehicles to their line-up as well including Ford and Chrysler.

The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) is asking all auto makers to recommend the use of 15% ethanol blended fuel (E15) for use in new model vehicles.

IRFA has sent letters to the heads of 12 auto manufacturers asking them to follow the trend set by Ford Motor Company and General Motors and endorse the use of E15 as approved by the Environmental Protection Agency as an option for owners of cars and light duty trucks newer than 2001.

The letters stated, “It’s now been just over two years since the U.S. EPA authorized the use of E15 in new cars and light duty trucks sold in the U.S. Recent announcements by General Motors and Ford Motor Company that E15 is recommended for use in their new vehicles clearly demonstrates that ample time has passed for automakers to react to the EPA’s announcement and offer vehicles for sale in the U.S. that give consumers the fueling choice they deserve.”

The letters continued by asking if E15 is a recommended fuel for the company’s model year 2013 cars and light duty trucks sold in the U.S. If E15 is not a recommended for use in the company’s model year 2013 cars and light duty trucks, the IRFA also asked, “Given the two years to research and prepare for the transition to E15, please explain why your company chose not to align its products with all of the legal fuel options sold in the U.S.?”

The letters were sent to the heads of BMW of North America, Chrysler Group, American Honda Motor Company, Hyundai Motors America, Kia Motors America, Mazda Motors of America, Mercedes-Benz USA, Nissan North America, Saab Cars North America, Toyota North America, Volkswagen Group of America, and Volvo Group North America.

It’s called the EBDI – Extreme Boost Direct Injection – and it may be the “little engine that could” revolutionize the automotive world to produce cars that get drastically improved fuel mileage while optimizing the higher octane properties of ethanol.

The engine was developed by Ricardo, Inc., and it was on display for automotive mechanics and technicians at the 2012 Congress of Automotive Service and Repair last week in New Orleans. Attendees were able to see the engine in model form and in a GMC Sierra testbed. Ricardo representatives, including Chris Talware (left) and Dr. Matti Vint, were on hand to talk with those at the event and participate in live broadcasts of the Bobby Likis Car Clinic Network from the trade show floor.

Vint says they designed the engine to run efficiently on straight gasoline up to 85% ethanol. “We got good savings with both E-0 as well as E-85, so we designed engines to be flex fuel capable,” said Vint, explaining how they used a systems approach that adjusted a number of variables to increase the “sweet spot” area of the engine.

“The net result is we’ve gotten equivalent performance of a 6.7 liter diesel engine that is in the Sierra truck with a 3.2 liter gasoline engine,” said Talware. That enables what they call “extreme downsizing” that allows it to be scalable to perform in a variety of applications. “The same technology could be applied to a tourist size vehicle, with a 1.4 liter engine,” said Vint. It’s also scalable in terms of market, whether it’s agricultural, light duty trucks or passenger vehicles.

Listen to an interview with Talware and Vint here: Ricardo's Chris Talware and Matti Vint

Watch Dr. Vint explain more about the engine and how it optimizes ethanol below.

CARS Event Photo Album

The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) exhibit at the Congress of Automotive Repair and Service (CARS) in New Orleans this past week featured new engine technology developed by Ricardo, Inc. that has the ability to optimize the performance of ethanol in fuel.

Ricardo Chief Engineer for Innovations and Chemical Technology John Kasab was one of the company representatives who presented information at the exhibit and on the Bobby Likis Car Clinic Network broadcasts from the show. During his presentation at the booth, Kasab talked about Ricardo’s history in the automotive realm and how “everything old is new again” when it comes to alternative fuels. “Three key automotive inventors from about a century ago – Henry Ford with Ford Motor Company, Charles Kettering with General Motors and Harry Ricardo our founder – all anticipated depletion of petroleum reserves,” said Kasab. “Henry Ford was thinking about making (fuel) from crops that will help sustain rural economies.” Kettering was thinking about saving the auto industry from oil shortages and Ricardo’s interest was in energy security, especially since he was British, and Kasab noted that all of them also saw the potential of ethanol for anti-knock properties.

Kasab says federal and state regulations calling for dramatically increased fuel economy for vehicles, as well as the Renewable Fuel Standard requiring more alternative fuel use, means a great need for engines optimized to run on fuels other than gasoline in the future. “Over the next decade, we’re going to see a lot of new technology coming into internal combustion engines to significantly improve their efficiency,” he said. “The technologies that are going to facilitate this efficiency improvement will have a natural thirst for higher octane and we see increased ethanol content in the fuel as part of the pathway toward facilitating better engine performance.”

To that end, Ricardo developed the EBDI – Extreme Boost Direct Injection Engine – which we will learn more about from other members of the Ricardo team who attended the CARS event.

Listen to Kasab’s presentation here: Ricardo's John Kasab at CARS

See photos from the CARS event with Ricardo, RFA and Bobby Likis.

Since ethanol is powering cars across the country these days, it’s about time it had a place at the premier annual event dedicated specifically to automotive service and repair professionals, which is appropriately called CARS – the Congress of Automotive Repair and Service.

This edition of “The Ethanol Report” features comments from Bobby Likis, host of the Car Clinic Network, and Renewable Fuels Association Director of Market Development Robert White on ethanol’s role in the upcoming CARS event that will be held October 11-13 at the Morial Convention Center in New Orleans. The event will also feature auto engineering firm Ricardo and the work they are doing with ethanol and high octane engines.

Domestic Fuel will be attending that event to get feedback from the mechanics and technicians on what they learn about ethanol at the show.

Listen to or download the Ethanol Report here: Ethanol Report on CARS

Subscribe to “The Ethanol Report” with this link.

The Congress of Automotive Repair and Service, with the clever acronym of CARS, coming up next week in New Orleans is boasting more mechanical attendees, vendors and attractions than in recent years – including a special spotlight for ethanol.

CARS is an event held during Automotive Service & Repair Week (ASRW) dedicated specifically to mechanical service and repair professionals and among the featured exhibitors in the CARS section of the International Autobody Congress & Exposition (NACE) this year is the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA).

Radio talk show host Bobby Likis will broadcast his nationally syndicated Car Clinic show live from the show floor Saturday, Oct. 13, in addition to numerous interviews that will be conducted live from his booth during the Expo. “CARS is ‘the’ all-call for the automotive service industry, so we’re packing up the Car Clinic show trailer to shine a bright spotlight on the event,” says Likis. “And, we’re bringing with us the Renewable Fuels Association – the trade association for the U.S. ethanol industry – and Ricardo Engineering’s Extreme Boost Direct Injection (EBDI) engine, optimized for the high-octane properties of ethanol. Technology will rock and roll!”

RFA announced a partnership with Likis earlier this year, which RFA Director of Market Development Robert White says has been very beneficial for the ethanol industry. “The group that we need to educate the most is service mechanics, the auto technicians, because that’s who people trust,” said White. “The radio program with Bobby Likis aired across the country helps put a trusted name behind the efforts of the ethanol industry.”

White says RFA will have general session time and a large display in the CARS trade show for automotive technicians and service professionals on hand “to walk them through what ethanol actually does to an engine.”

The 2012 ASRW/NACE/CARS Expo will take place October 11-13 at the Morial Convention Center in New Orleans.

In response to strong sales of E15 in areas where the ethanol blend is offered, Ford Motor Company and General Motors (GM) announced their recommendations for use of E15 in their new vehicles. GM added the recommendation of E15 for its 2012 and newer vehicles, while Ford recommends E15 for its 2013 and newer vehicles.

In response, Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) Executive Director Monte Shaw said, “The IRFA wants to extend our most sincere thank you to GM and Ford for recommending the use of E15 in new vehicles. I believe Iowa consumers will take notice of GM and Ford’s leadership. This is an important step forward for E15. Thirty years ago, auto recognition of E10 began much the same way. First one company, then others followed. First for new cars, then for the legacy fleet. The pressure is now on other auto manufacturers to follow suit or explain why they offer substandard equipment.”

Retailers, who must first register with the EPA before legally selling E15, began to offer the higher ethanol blend quickly upon final approval for E15 for all 2001 and newer vehicles by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The first retailer in the country to sell E15 was in Kansas and retailers in Iowa quickly followed suit. Last month, Linn Co-op Oil Company in Marion, Iowa became the first retailer in the state to offer E15. Several other Iowa retailers are in various stages of moving to offer E15.

Chrysler sees great value in ethanol. James Frusti, Chrysler Group manager of Fuels, Energy and Regulatory Affairs, presented the company’s ethanol strategy as part of the auto industry’s greater efforts of collaboration during the 25th Annual Ethanol Conference.

Fursti said that center stage of bringing any technology to market is the customer and the technology must provide value to the customer. “Whether it be for vehicle technology, a new energy source, or a new fuel source, to us that’s all technology,” he said. Ethanol is one of these technologies.

At Chrysler, Fursti explained that they are trying to make the internal combustion engine as efficient as possible given the challenging fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas requirements. To do this, they are looking at ethanol and biodiesel. But in order for Chrysler to invest in the development of ethanol engine technology, several things need to happen.

1)   More flex-fuel vehicles (FFVs) need to be sold.

2)   Customers need to understand the value in ethanol. When this happens they will buy FFVs so they need to be more broadly available in the retail market.

3)   Automakers need to be able to obtain greenhouse gas credits and improve their ability to comply with challenging requirements. The soon to be published 2017-2025 Fuel Economy and Greenhouse Gas Rules by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will explain how this will work and it is believed automakers will receive greenhouse gas credits for FFVs.

The next step, said Fursti, is that they need to know with certainty when there is going to be enough mid-level blends of ethanol available at the retail level for them to invest in redesigning their engines.

To succeed, there will need to be effective collaboration between the industries. There will also need to be more communication with the customer and legislators, said Frusti. Stealing a quote from UDSA Ag Secretary Vilsack, you’ve got to tell the story to the customer and you’ve got to tell the story to the legislatures.

You can view James Frusti’s presentation here and also listen to his remarks: James Frusti Tells the Ethanol Story

In a collaborative partnership to promote the use of renewable diesel in its current and next-generation clean diesel passenger vehicles, Volkswagen of America Inc. is partnering with Amyris Inc. and Solazyme Inc., two of the world’s leaders in renewable fuels, to evaluate emissions reductions and demonstrate the performance of Volkswagen’s TDI Clean Diesel technology.

Under the agreements, Volkswagen will provide each company with two products—a new 2012 Passat TDI and a 2012 Jetta TDI—in order to closely examine the effects that the fuels produced by Amyris and Solazyme will have on Volkswagen clean diesel technology and the environment.

“Partnering with two leaders in advanced biofuel technology supports Volkswagen’s goal of offering a competitive suite of technologies that help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve fuel efficiency and fit the diverse needs of our customers,” said Jurgen Leohold, head of Volkswagen Group Research. “In order to achieve our long-term desire of bringing CO2-neutral mobility to the market, advanced gasoline and diesel engines like TDI Clean Diesel technology must play a major role; and renewable energies to power these advanced powertrains are needed on a large scale.”

During the year-long evaluation, Volkswagen will measure the environmental impacts from the use of cleaner burning renewable diesel formulas. Initial analysis indicates that while advanced biofuels are comparable to standard diesel blends in terms of performance, there are tremendous opportunities to reduce vehicle emissions.

“Amyris’ renewable diesel’s proven superior cold weather performance, high cetane and comparable energy density to petroleum diesel have enabled us to obtain one of the highest blending registrations certified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,” said Mario Portela, Chief Operating Officer, Amyris. “Our partnership with Volkswagen, like our work in Brazil, where nearly 200 buses are running on various blends of Amyris diesel, is another important milestone in expanding OEM acceptance by showing our fuels eliminate the performance challenges of first generation biofuels while still enabling significant reductions in greenhouse gas and tailpipe emissions.”

“Volkswagen has continually been at the forefront of automotive innovation providing safe, quality, and environmentally sound vehicles to consumers,” said Rogerio Manso, Chief Commercialization Officer, Solazyme. “Solazyme’s 100 percent drop-in renewable diesel is compatible with existing infrastructure and vehicles, and provides the world-class engine manufacturer with an advanced diesel replacement that drives significant Greenhouse Gases (GHG) as well as ground-level emission reductions.”

Automakers will need higher octane fuels to meet the coming increases in fuel economy and reductions in emissions called for by 2025 and ethanol is positioned to help fill that need.

According to a new study by auto engineering firm Ricardo, Inc., the increase in average fleet fuel economy to 54.5 mile per by 2025 will have to be met in large part by engines and vehicles popular today, which is about double the average of 2010. Ricardo notes, “[t]he vast majority of vehicles sold through 2025 in the United States will use gasoline-fueled, spark-ignited internal combustion engines as the primary form of propulsion.”

Specifically, Ricardo reports that nearly 3 out of every 4 vehicles will require a gasoline-type, higher octane fuel to operate a growing list of engine technology options. “Future powertrain solutions will have a natural thirst for higher octane fuels,” Ricardo concludes. Octane is the standard measure of the anti-knock properties (i.e., engine performance) of a motor fuel. Most fuels today, including E10 ethanol blends, have an octane rating of at least 87.

Speaking at the 17th annual National Ethanol Conference, Ricardo project director Rod Beazley said the meeting should be called the “National Octane Conference” because “ethanol has sort of a bad rap with the autos and it might need to re-market itself.”

Beaszley says he doesn’t agree with the timing of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). “If I was king for the day, you’d be getting the 36 billion gallons by 2017,” he said. “That would be the challenge – how to accelerate it by five years.”

He called for an alliance with auto makers who have a tremendous challenge ahead of them to increase fuel economy. “I think there’s a huge opportunity for the renewable fuels industry to grow and to have a very strong partnership with the autos,” he said. “There’s never been a better time for the industry than now.”

Listen to or download Beazley from NEC here: Ricardo Inc. Project Manager Ron Beazley

2012 National Ethanol Conference Photo Album

General Motors is working to offer assurances and incentives to owners of Chevy Volts in the wake of concerns about the potential of damaged batteries in the electric cars catching fire, and may ultimately have to take the car of the future back to the drawing board.

Earlier this week, GM announced initiatives for customer satisfaction and battery safety research to ensure ongoing confidence in the Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric vehicle. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported last week that electrical fires that occurred up to three weeks after lithium-ion battery packs were damaged in crash testing on some of the vehicles.

GM has established a program offering free GM vehicle loan to any Volt owner and vowed to work closely with NHTSA, suppliers, dealers and manufacturing teams to initiate any necessary changes in the vehicles as soon as possible.

An Associated Press report today quoted General Motors CEO Dan Akerson as taking that even further, saying they would buy the cars back from owners who are worried about the issue, and that the company is ready to do a total recall of the more than 6,000 Volts on the road and repair them once the cause of the three post-crash fires in tested vehicles is determined.

A new public education project to reach drivers of FlexFuel Vehicles (FFVs) by working with state Motor Vehicle Administrations (MVA) was announced today by the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and the Clean Fuels Foundation.

As a part of the national FFV Awareness Campaign, the “FlexFuel Vehicle/Motor Vehicle Administration” project will work with MVAs in six states on outreach opportunities such as developing an FFV owner database, vehicle registration and license renewals, safety inspection and emissions notices, and including information with the energy/emergency preparedness program, state websites, and at point of service. The six states are Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Maryland, Georgia, and Florida.

“Working together with MVAs and automakers we want to reach drivers of FFVs to make sure they are aware that their vehicles have the capability of using high-level ethanol blends,” said FFV Awareness Campaign Manager Burl Haigwood. “Educating drivers about fuel choice will result in proper refueling and protect ethanol’s stellar 30-year marketplace reputation.”

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers CEO Mitch Bainwol says they represent 12 companies of FFVs that see the need for consumer education. “FlexFuel Vehicles are a growing segment of the auto pool. We are pleased to help sponsor this project to increase the use of alternative fuels like E85 and in so doing, educate drivers to avoid the potential for misfueling.”

FFV Awareness Campaign supporters noted that reaching drivers in cooperation with the DMVs is essentially a no-to-low cost means to help states meet their goals to reduce petroleum use, support new biofuel technologies, and improve air quality. The Alliance now joins EPA, USDA, several Clean Cities Coalitions, and over 30 Ag/Energy/Environmental organizations that support the FFV Awareness Campaign.

Sunday was National Plug-in Day and among many events around the country was a parade of electric vehicles (EV) with over 200 EV drivers taking part in Santa Monica, California.

The day was organized by Plug-in America and included EV events in over 20 simultaneous venues from Honolulu to New York with displays and demonstrations of plug-in vehicles by Nissan, GM, Mitsubishi, Toyota, SMART, Tesla, Ford, Coda and others.

“Only a few years ago, major automakers were literally crushing electric cars. Today, virtually every auto company in the world is selling or developing a plug-in car, and consumers are snapping up each and every one, stimulating our economy while helping the environment,” said Plug In America co-founder Paul Scott.

Among the event’s promoters was Nissan, which encouraged the 7200 Leaf owners nationwide to take part. “One year ago, the Nissan Leaf was just gaining public awareness. Today, thousands of drivers have chosen to go all-electric, with many more to come,” said Brian Carolin with Nissan North America.

Plug In Day will be followed up this Friday with the opening of the critically acclaimed documentary Revenge of the Electric Car in Los Angeles and New York. Filmmaker and electric-car advocate Chris Paine directs the movie, which follows executives including Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn in his industry-leading pursuit of zero-emission leadership.

Watch the movie trailer below: