renewable fuels

Not all biofuels are created equal, as the chart above illustrates (click the image to see full size). It’s one of the best depictions I’ve seen of how each biofuel feedstock has completely different impacts on overall greenhouse gas emissions, water and pesticide use, and the energy required to produce the fuel.

Clean Burning Natural Gas Vehicles (NGVs) are hot commodities in some parts of the country, where fuel can sell for as low as $0.63 per gallon. This Civic NGV is powered by the simplest and cleanest-burning hydrocarbon available, and though it looks like a standard passenger vehicle, its tailpipe emissions that are often cleaner than ambient air.

While the national average price of gasoline is now $3.60, some residents of Utah are happily filling up on compressed natural gas (CNG) at $0.63 per gallon. That’s the country’s lowest price for CNG, which has understandably caused a surge in demand for vehicles running on a fuel that one man described as “practically free.”

Currently, the average price for a gallon of E85 (85% ethanol, 15% gasoline) is $2.67. That’s amazing if you think about it, since a gallon of ethanol requires about 16 lbs. of corn to produce.

AAMCO, one of the world’s largest chains of automotive service centers, has started an initiative designed to promote environmental sustainability and energy efficiency. AAMCO is also promoting alternative fuels by installing E85 conversion kits that allow vehicles to run on ethanol blends up to 85%.

After covering 22 of the most popular myths about biodiesel, I realized I’d only given lip service to a major issue: increasing food prices. If I use biodiesel made from soybeans right now, am I contributing to the larger problem of increasing commodity prices and starving poor people?

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst have made a potentially ground-breaking discovery in the production of biofuels from sustainable, non-food sources. By heating cellulosic plant material to between 750 and 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit in the presence of a catalyst, then quickly cooling it, the team of graduate students led by associate professor George W. Huber was able to produce a mixture of hydrocarbons identical to gasoline in less than two minutes.

The Renewable Fuels Association estimates that in 2015 it will take 1/3 of the total US corn harvest to meet ethanol quotas. That means that a 16% increase in corn production will have to support a 234% increase in the amount of corn being turned into vehicle fuel.

There’s no doubt that growing corn-based ethanol has some serious problems: dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, controversy over increasing food prices, and questionable energy return. But how does the impact of ethanol production compare to not doing anything?

Range Fuels Inc. announced yesterday it has secured over $100 million in Series B funding, an investment that could make it the first company to seriously commercialize cellulosic ethanol.

The purpose of the oversight hearing is to receive testimony on the energy market effects of the recently-passed renewable fuel standard and the potential harm that standard might cause to the biofuels industry.