Domestic Fuel

General Motors (GM) announced today that their 2009 Cadillac Escalade will be able to run on either gasoline or the alternative fuel blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline (E85). The Escalade, Escalade EXT and Escalade ESV will join the 2009 line-up of flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs).

“The success of E85 as an alternative fuel depends on having the fuel readily available and having a range of cars and trucks that can use it,” said GM Vice President of Environment, Energy and Safety Policy Beth Lowery . “We will offer more than 15 flex-fuel capable models for 2009 compared with 11 this year.”

Previously announced this year, other 2009 FFV models will include the GMC Denali, Chevrolet HHR, Buick Lucerne and Hummer H2 and H2 SUT. This will assist GM in their effort to providing half their vehicle line as E85 compatible by the year 2012.

CleanFUEL Distribution announced that twelve E85 stations will soon be open in cities surrounding Atlanta, GA. A promotion, sponsored by several entities on June 2 and 3, will sell E85 for $1.85 per gallon parts of each day. Involved in the openings will be Protec Fuel Management, CleanFUEL Distribution, Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority (GEFA), the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC), Enterprise Rent-a-Car, Chrysler, SAFA Express, Indore Oil and the Atlanta Clean Cities Coalition.

“Never before have twelve E85 stations opened at once. This is a momentous occasion. Since E85 is the key to creating a market for cellulosic ethanol, this is an extremely important step that will put the greater Atlanta area on the path to increasing petroleum independence and cleaner air. Protec and CleanFUEL Distribution are proud to have worked with our outstanding partners to open these stations,” said Todd Garner, Managing Partner of Protec and CEO of CleanFUEL Distribution.

GEFA assisted in financing 21 E85 facilities in Georgia, ten of which will be part of the grand opening festivities the week of June 2.

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According to a press release issued by the Clean Fuels Development Coalition (CFDC), their flexible fuel GM Avalanche was featured as part of their Ethanol Across America campaign in a Memorial Day Parade held in Washington D.C. The procession was part of Volunteers of Underage Military Service (VUMS) which salutes veterans who are also known as America’s Youngest Warriors. The parade had more than 100,000 in attendance and also focused on the dangers of imported petroleum.

“The mission was not only to recognize VUMS’ service to America but to also highlight the importance of alternative fuel vehicles and non petroleum fuels,” said Col. Holmberg (USMC, ret.), a longtime consultant to the CFDC and a Director of the American Council on Renewable Energy. “We must break the stranglehold of OPEC oil that is threatening America’s national, energy, and economic security. The “Youngest Warriors” wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to convey the message of what must be done to deal with the greatest threat to America’s freedom since World War II.”

Another E85 compatible vehicle in the parade included a 1957 Cadillac El Dorado which reportedly was the first car to travel from coast to coast on the domestically grown fuel in 2005.

Ethanol Across America is a non-profit, non-partisan education campaign of the Clean Fuels Foundation and is sponsored by industry, government, and private interests. For more information, log on to www.ethanolacrossamerica.net.

Photo source: CFDC. Featured in photo: Linn Bumpers, Kimberly Durante, and Veronica Sherrard — the “Fueling Greener in DC Girls” — help spread the word.

The discussion on ethanol should be about fuel plus food plus feed plus fibers plus fruits plus forests. At least, that’s what the president of UNICA thinks. Marco Jank spoke at yesterday’s Ethanol Summit and explained how ethanol has become not just a major fuel source in Brazil but also a stimulating proponent in many other industries, particularly food. Marcos adds that as technology continues to progress, the Brazilian ethanol industry will continue to grow. There’s no question. And, he says there’s no question that it will be the same for the U.S. In fact, he says the American ethanol industry is already growing at a faster rate than that of Brazil.

Marcos says, “technology is the solution” for combating a rising scarcity in oil. While he says that ethanol won’t ever become a big competitor with oil, he says it will and should become a leading alternative to oil. He urges leaders in the ethanol industry to appeal to the pulbic and encourage them to make biofuels a part of a worldwide solution to the oil crisis. Marcos says 100 countries have the potential of developing significant ethanol idustries, which in turn, allows for a “more deomocratic and less problematic” solution to the world’s energy needs.

I spoke with Marcos just after the summit. We talked about how ethanol has become a substantial fuel source in Brazil, why Marcos thinks the U.S. should open its doors to imported ethanol and the fuel’s virtually untapped potential in the U.S. You can listen to my interview here:
jank-indy-08.mp3

2008 Indy 500 Photo Album

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Many consider Emerson Fittipaldi, a two-time Indy 500 champ, “a true King of the Brickyard.” But not only is Emerson an IRL legend, he’s a BIG supporter of ethanol. Perhaps even a “King of Ethanol.” Emerson is a Brazilian ethanol producer and spoke at yesterday’s Ethanol Summit hosted by General Motors.

The IRL racing legend told the story of his long history, not just with racing, but also racing with ethanol. Although the IRL fully switched from methanol to ethanol last year, Emerson is well acquainted with racing on the biofuel. At age 14, the Indy champ used ethanol in motorcycles and go-karts.

Emerson will get another chance to represent ethanol at the at the races. He is this year’s flex-fuel Corvette Z06 pace car driver. This is the first time the official Indy pace car will run on E85.

“The message of the pace car will be showing to the world that a passenger car even a high performance car like the corvette will run E85 and runs beautiful”,” Emerson said.

He added that the Indy Racing League itself is setting a worldwide example “of how a motor race can show the world, show the public how efficient the engines run with ethanol.” He called the IRL’s switch to 100 percent ethanol, “the endorsement of ethanol in the world through motor race.”

Just after the Summit I spoke with Fittipaldi one-on-one about racing with ethanol as a boy and being a part of ethanol’s growing success in Brazil today. You can listen to my interview here:
fittipaldi-indy-08.mp3

2008 Indy 500 Photo Album

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The ethanol industry in Brazil has been developing some major traction. Marcos Jank, President of UNICA, says the demand for ethanol in Brazil is now matching that of the demand for gasoline. He says ethanol is gaining ground and Brazil “won’t move back to gas.”

Marcos was one of seven speakers at today’s Ethanol Summit held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway today. General Motors sponsored the event. The object of the Summit was to explore Brazil’s strong and sustained success with ethanol while also taking a look at where and how the U.S. ethanol industry has room to grow.

Marcos and Indy racing legend Emerson Fittipaldi – a Brazilian ethanol producer – highlighted a number of milestones the Brazilian ethanol industry has already attained:

• All fuel sold in Brazil contains a 20 to 25 percent blend of ethanol
• The unsubsidized ethanol industry offers a fuel that is on average one dollar below the price of gasoline
• Virtually all 33,000 gas pumps offer E100
• Just one percent of the 40 percent of arable land in Brazil is being used to produce sugarcane ethanol
• Forty-five percent of fuel for cars is from sugarcane
• Sugarcane ethanol production is 100 percent self-sufficient
• The food industry is growing faster than the ethanol industry
• Ninety percent of all new automobiles sold are flex-fuel automobiles
• One-hundred percent of GM vehicles produced in Brazil are flex-fuel
• Twenty percent of all cars are flex-fuel vehicles today
• Fifty percent of all cars will be flex-fuel vehicles by 2012
• Three percent of electricity is from sugarcane
• Honda and Yamaha are introducing flex-fuel motorcycles this year

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (37.7MB)

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), General Motors and Natural Resources Canada today announced the 17 teams selected to participate in EcoCAR: The NeXt Challenge, a collegiate vehicle engineering competition set to begin in the Fall of 2008. EcoCAR will challenge university engineering students across North America to reengineer a Saturn VUE to achieve improved fuel economy and reduced green house gas emissions, while retaining the vehicle’s performance and consumer appeal.

Students will design and build advanced propulsion solutions that are based on the vehicle categories from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) zero emissions vehicle (ZEV) regulations. They will be encouraged to explore a variety of cutting-edge clean vehicle solutions, including full-function electric, range-extended electric, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fuel cell technologies. In addition, they will incorporate lightweight materials into the vehicles, improve aerodynamics and utilize alternative fuels such as ethanol, biodiesel and hydrogen.

The following teams have been selected to compete in the EcoCAR competition:
• Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Daytona Beach, FL)
• Georgia Tech (Atlanta, GA)
• Howard University (Washington, D.C.)
• Michigan Technological University (Houghton, MI)
• Mississippi State University (Starkville, MS)
• Missouri University of Science and Technology (Rolla, MO)
• North Carolina State University (Raleigh, NC)
• Ohio State University (Columbus, OH)
• Pennsylvania State University (University Park, PA)
• Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (Terre Haute, IN)
• Texas Tech University (Lubbock, TX)
• University of Ontario Institute of Technology (Oshawa, Ontario, Canada)
• University of Victoria (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada)
• University of Waterloo (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada)
• University of Wisconsin (Madison, WI)
• Virginia Tech (Blacksburg, VA)
• West Virginia University (Morgantown, WV)

During the three-year program, GM will provide production vehicles, vehicle components, seed money, technical mentoring and operational support. DOE and its research and development facility will provide competition management, team evaluation and technical and logistical support.

Additional information about EcoCAR is available on the Web at www.ecoCARchallenge.org.

Well winners, really. And no, they’re not the two cute girls to the right. They were so cute though that I had to use their picture. It was Darron Stewart and his two sons that had brought the magic touch from Carmel, IN to a certain red buzzer. The troupe won a 2-year lease to a 2008 Indy pace car corvette at this morning’s special giveaway. The giveaway was the final event in a month-long promotion to raise awareness of ethanol. Hank FM, The Indiana Corn Marketing Council and the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council have been hosting pump promotions and corvette qualifying opportunities throughout the month of May. Qualifying contestants drew numbers and lined up accordingly to try their shot at pressing the buzzer. Darron and his boys were the lucky ones and walked away with the keys to a 2008 vette.

Check out video of the winning contestants below:

EPIC’s Joanna Schroeder manned the video. Thanks Joanna.

2008 Indy 500 Photo Album

Teams participating in Challenge X, a multi-year engineering competition with 17 university teams from across North America developing GM vehicles, is getting ready to pull into the nation’s capital.

They’ll be finishing up a 400-mile road rally from New Jersey to Washington, D.C. with the finish line at U.S. Department of Energy Headquarters tomorrow (Wednesday, May 21st).

This YouTube video has some more information:

To see a little bit more about what Challenge X is all about, check out this from the competition’s web site:

Since 1987, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has sponsored more than two dozen competitions challenging thousands of engineering students to achieve better fuel economy and lower emissions while maintaining the safety, performance, utility, and consumer appeal of a variety of vehicles.

Now, General Motors Corporation (GM), DOE, and other government and industry leaders have developed a new competition called Challenge X: Crossover to Sustainable Mobility. This ground-breaking, three-year competition will give engineering schools an opportunity to participate in hands-on research and development with leading-edge automotive propulsion, fuels, materials, and emissions-control technologies.

The Alternative Fuels & Vehicles Expo in Las Vegas that I mentioned in an earlier post is wrapping up and participants have expressed excitement about sustainable fuel choices. Supporters of clean diesel for example, say the fuel offers more power, improved fuel economy and reduced emissions. Gale Banks, chief executive officer of Gale Banks Engineering, says clean diesel turns conventional diesel thinking on its head.

“With clean diesel power, drivers can have approximately 30 percent better fuel economy and 50 percent more torque, as well as reduce emissions by up to 25 percent, when compared to gasoline-powered passenger car engines. With clean diesel no longer are fuel economy and performance mutually exclusive,” Banks said.
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General Motors and Mascoma Corporation of Massachusetts today announced a strategic relationship to develop cellulosic ethanol.

The development is focused on Mascoma’s single-step biochemical conversion of non-grain biomass into low-carbon alternative fuels to help address increasing energy demand. It ties in with another partnership announced earlier this year with Coskata that uses a thermo-chemical process to make ethanol from non-grain sources.

“Taken together, these technologies represent what we see as the best in the cellulosic ethanol future and cover the spectrum in science and commercialization,” GM President Fritz Henderson said. “Demonstrating the viability of sustainable non-grain based ethanol is critical to developing the infrastructure to support the flex-fuel vehicle market.”

Mascoma has raised significant equity from venture capital investments and secured more than $60 million in state and federal grants, including the recent awarding of a $26 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.

“Cellulosic biofuels represent next-generation renewable energy, and have the potential to reduce oil dependence, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and stimulate regional economic development,” Mascoma Chairman and CEO Bruce Jamerson said. “Our transformational technology will allow us to combine the affordable non-grain biomass with low-cost conversion techniques to make ethanol more quickly, efficiently and economically than is possible with other biochemical methods.”

GM’s multi-dimensional involvement with Mascoma will include projects to evaluate materials and other fuels for specific engine applications as well as collaborating on Mascoma’s efforts to expand its commercialization projects globally, including promotion of increased biofuels distribution.

A new podcast from RenewableEnergyStocks.com takes a look at how consumer demand for “green” options in the automobile industry is changing. The “Driving Green” interview features Jonathan Oritz of Foreign Affairs Auto. He says, “The integration of electric vehicles will be driven by consumer demand.”

As owner of Foreign Affairs Auto, Florida’s 1st Smart Dealership, Mr. Ortiz provides first-hand perspective of the changing demographics he sees at his dealership of the typical green car enthusiast, and advises new dealers contemplating carrying green autos what it takes to make it a success.

Mr. Ortiz also noted a change in demographics of the green car enthusiast as consumers come to terms with $4.00 gas, opening it up to a larger more mainstream audience. He is also convinced that the market for EVs will be driven by consumer interest and demand to have a cleaner and more fuel efficient vehicle, not the diminishing fuel reserves. ZAP has one of the largest and growing distribution systems in the USA for 100% electric vehicles.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (3.9MB)

St. Petersburg, Florida was the site of the greenest racing event in history April 5-6 when ethanol was featured in both the IndyCar Series Honda Grand Prix and the American Le Mans Series Acura Sports Car Challenge.

The edition of “Fill up, Feel Good” features comments from Doug Robinson of the International Motor Sports Association; GM Racing program manager Doug Fehan; Corvette Racing team driver Johnny O’Connell; and Team Ethanol Indy Car Ryan Hunter-Reay.

The Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC) has been the leader in bringing “green” fuels to motorsports and the organization was instrumental in the IndyCar Series switch to 100 percent ethanol last year and the Corvette Racing Team usage of cellulosic E85 racing fuel this year.

The podcast is available to download by subscription (see our sidebar link) or you can listen to it by clicking here (5:00 MP3 File):
epic-podcast-4-11-08-racing.mp3

The Fill Up, Feel Good theme music is “Tribute to Joe Satriani” by Alan Renkl, thanks to the Podsafe Music Network.

“Fill up, Feel Good” is sponsored by the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (2.4MB)

A record number of alternative fuel vehicles were sold in the U.S. last year, according to the latest figures from automotive research firm R.L. Polk.

Sales of alternative fuel vehicles in the United States, including flex-fuel and hybrid electric, reached 1.8 million last year, about 250,000 more than in 2006.

Dave McCurdy, president and CEO Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, says that gas prices, consumer incentives, and the increasing number of models available continue to play a role in the popularity of alternative fuel vehicles but he is concerned about the need for more stations to offer 85 percent ethanol. “Out of more than 170,000 refueling stations in the U.S. less than 1,500 offer (E85) ethanol,” he said. That actually represents a 100 percent increase in the number of stations since 2006.

Currently there are more than 12 million AFAs registered in the U.S. and automakers are hopeful that this year’s sales may exceed 2 million. Morre than 70 models of AFAs are being offered for sale this year, up from only 11 models in 2001.

As crude oil jumped to new record highs on the New York mercantile exchange due to falling oil inventories, trading over $104 a barrel, President Bush renewed his support for ethanol as a means toward energy independence.

Speaking at the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference 2008 (WIREC) Wednesday, Bush said, “America has got to change its habits. We’ve got to get off oil.”

To do that, he mentioned just about every alternative, domestic energy source possible – from ethanol and biodiesel to wind and solar, hydrogen and nuclear. He discussed the need for vehicles that run on alternative fuels, including plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and he visited with manufacturers of those types of vehicles at the WIREC trade show.

He also stressed the administration’s commitment to research and development of cellulosic ethanol.

“I look forward to the day when Texas ranchers can grow switchgrass on their country, and then have that switchgrass be converted to fuel,” he said. “I look forward to the day when people in the parts of our country that have got a lot of forests are able to convert wood chips into fuel. And those days are coming.”

The president called biodiesel “the most promising” of the renewable fuels. “Biodiesel refineries can produce fuel from soybeans, and vegetable oils, and recycled cooking grease, from waste materials,” Bush noted. “All you out there with waste, you may be in business before you know it as this new technology kicks in. Most Americans — or, more Americans are beginning to realize the benefits of biodiesel every year.”

Read the president’s entire address to WIREC here.