What is the best answer for clean auto fuel?
As plans are made for the nation’s first commercial cellulosic ethanol plant in Colorado, experts point out its advantages over corn ethanol, the main biofuel now produced in the U.S.

Cellulosic ethanol – which can come from sugar cane, switchgrass, poplar trees, cornstalks and many other plants – has the benefit of being much more abundant than corn and better for the environment. It also is more expensive.

Cellulosic ethanol could provide 100 billion gallons of fuel, replacing nearly half the 140 billion gallons of gasoline the nation now uses, according to the Rocky Mountain News. (If you’re wondering about the numbers, ethanol is less efficient.) By contrast, traditional corn ethanol, with a capacity for just 20 billion gallons, could replace only 14 percent. The country’s 105 corn ethanol plants now produce just 5 billion gallons a year, the paper says.

Former Fed Chief Alan Greenspan reportedly told a Congressional hearing that cellulosic ethanol is the only alternative fuel that could make a dent in the nation’s gasoline consumption.

Environmentally, corn ethanol (when energy for production and distribution are included) only saves 10%-20% of the greenhouse gas emissions of gasoline, according to Scientific American, while cellulose can save between 65% and 90%.

But corn has strong lobbyists in states like Iowa and Illinois, so politically it has an edge over cellulose.

It’s expensive
Cost has been an issue for cellulose. Production (including taxes, transportation and distribution) costs $2.20 a gallon, double the cost of corn ethanol and nearly three times that of regular gasoline, according to the Rocky Mountain News. It also is a more complex process. Scientists have been studying it for years but, “Nobody wants to build the first plant,” David Wilson of Cornell University told the newspaper.

Financing has been a problem. Government incentives will be needed and the Energy Department has helped out with $3 million for the planned Colorado plant.

President George Bush, understanding the potential for cellulosic ethanol, wants to make it competitive with corn ethanol by 2012. The Congress has mandated production of 250 million gallons by 2013, which would require 6 to 10 plants, according to the Rocky Mountain News. Additional Congressional action is expected this year (see Congressional round-up below).

The U.S. Energy Department has promised $250 million to set up two bioenergy research centers, to focus mostly on cellulosic ethanol.

The plant now on the drawing board for Yuma, CO, would cost $50 million and is to be built in 2010 by PureVision Technology. The plan is to start with a $5 million prototype this year, according to the Rocky Mountain News.

Some Wall Street money is available for cellulosic ethanol as well. Goldman Sachs has invested $27 million in a Canadian company, Iogen, which is planning a plant near Ottowa.

Brazil is doing it
While cellulosic ethanol is new for North America, Brazil has produced it from sugar cane for years.

Most Brazilian fuel is gasohol, currently 23% ethanol by government mandate, according to Scientific American. But there is also pure ethanol, at pumps next to those with the mix. And the majority of news cars are now flex-fuel – they can use either fuel.

Brazil, the largest sugar cane grower in the world, produced about 282,000 barrels of ethanol a day in 2005 and expects to be up to 442,000 in 2010. Brazil also produces more than 2 million barrels of oil a day. But for cars, 40% of the fuel is homegrown ethanol. Sugar cane, which is plentiful and needs little attention, provides the cheapest ethanol in the world, says Scientific American. And GHG savings from sugar ethanol run around 90%.

Brazil plans to build an ethanol pipeline to its ports and export more of its biofuel. But in the U.S. government, seeing increasing imports from Brazil, imposed a tariff to protect homegrown corn ethanol, according to Scientific American.

More research
Some are investigating other biofuel technologies. British Petroleum said it will invest $500 million over the next decade in an Energy Bioscience Institute at a university in England or the U.S. And BP and DuPont are working with British Sugar to produce butanol – a different type of biofuel.

Chicken fat?
Meanwhile, two men in Missouri are building a $5 million biodiesel plant that will use chicken fat, which is plentiful in the area, with Tyson Foods nearby, according to the Chicago Tribune. They will mix the fat with soybean oil and produce an estimated 3 million gallons of biodiesel a year. Tyson, Purdue and Smithfield Foods are all setting up renewable energy divisions, in anticipation the market will grow.


Congressional round-up
• House Democratic leaders are planning a Jan. 18 vote on a multi-billion dollar rollback of tax and royalty incentives for the oil industry. The plan is to spend much of the money on alternative energy.
• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), in her speech, talked about a “new America that declares our energy independence, promotes domestic sources of renewable energy, and combats climate change.”
• Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), in a legislative “marker” package, called on Congress to pass a bill to mandate reductions of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. He said Global Warming and energy legislation will get attention in the Senate early this year.
• A bi-partisan group of five senators, including Barak Obama (D-Ill.), introduced a bill calling for incentives for biofuels. The bill aims to put 60 billion gallons of ethanol and biodiesel in the fuel supply by 2030 and gives tax breaks for, among other things, development of cellulosic biofuels and production of flex-fuel cars. It also would prevent oil companies from blocking sale of biofuels at their gas stations. And it requires that all buses bought with federal money use clean technologies, and that the federal fleet have better fuel-efficiency.
• Sen. John Bingaman (D-N.M.) said Senate energy policy will be spread out over several bills. Bingaman, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resource Committee, said a national energy strategy to curb reliance on imports must maintain domestic oil and gas production as well as increase auto efficiency and use of biofuels.
(Round-up sources: Environment & Energy Daily, Greenwire.)

News briefs

1. 2007 may be warmest year yet, British agency says
There is a 60% chance this year may turn out to be the world’s warmest, according to the United Kingdom’s Meteorologic Office. This is in part due to the El Nino that began last year and will continue through the winter, causing more flooding on the West Coast and extending the droughts in Australia. The average global temperature is expected to rise .54 degrees Celsius (1.2 Fahrenheit) above the average for 1961-90. (Source: Greenwire, Associated Press)

2. Huge ice shelf breaks off island 500 miles from North Pole
A 41-square-mile ice shelf broke off Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic and has formed a new ice island 30 miles away. This major ice shelf was one of six remaining in the area, dating back 3,000 years. “We are crossing climate thresholds,” said Warwick Vincent of Laval University, “and these may signal the onset of accelerated change ahead.” (Source: Associated Press)

3. China temperatures to rise, water shortages seen
China will have water shortages as temperatures rise, according to a Chinese government study that found global warming could inhibit the country’s development. The study predicted China’s average temperature could increase 6 degrees Celsius by 2100. Rain is expected to increase but rapid evaporation will take away the benefits. (Source: Greenwire)

4. German town will get its power from under ground
A geothermal generator will soon provide power and heat to the small town of Unterhaching, Germany. The 3.4 megawatt plant, which gets its power from 3,300 meters below ground, will be the first major geothermal power source in Germany. Another plant provides 200 kilowatts. With government incentives to lower the cost, two more plants are expected to go online this year for a total of 7 megawatts, and German officials expect the country to produce more than 200 megawatts by 2016. (Source: Greenwire)

Do something
If you haven’t gone out and bought condensed fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs, make it your New Year’s Resolution to do so. They are more expensive but use 75% less energy and last 10 times longer, so overall you’ll save money.