Biofuels - the real deal???

As I was getting my haircut today I was reading the June 2008 issue of Road and Track magazine. There is an interesting article on biofuels. Remembering a discussion I had with someone last Friday, I am forwarding some quotes for you.

Today we have finished motor gasoline that “includes 10-percent ethanol already blended in as an extender in roughly half the country. These days, “oxygenates” as in this E10 are solely extenders. With today’s oxygen-sensed engines, there’s no omissions benefit, and in fact there’s degradation in fuel economy and an increase in evaporative emissions.”

“note that about 16 percent of our gasoline today is traceable to Persian Gulf sources.”

“40 percent of our crude is coming from OPEC today.”

“To many, the downsides of corn ethanol are already apparent. There's the matter of fuel versus food, with corn prices almost tripling in the last two years. Ethanol pro­ponents note that only 5 percent of our corn crop is for direct human consump­tion; some 65 percent of it is devoted to livestock. Others ask: But then who eats the livestock?”

“Distribution issues complicate wide­spread biofuel adoption. Because of its hygroscopic nature (ethanol readily soaks up water), it cannot be transported through petroleum pipelines. It must travel from its Midwest production facilities by rail or, at even higher cost, by truck. Thus, estab­lishment of a national E85 network hasn't been particularly straightforward. It's only as I write this that the Los Angeles sprawl gets its first E85 station”

“E85 contains only about 70 percent of the energy content of gasoline. Thus, as verified in the EPA Fuel Economy Guide, a flex-fuel car takes a sig­nificant hit in its mpg when running E85. Today's E85 price at the pump is around 80 percent that of regular gasoline. But with its mpg deficit factored in, its effec­tive price lies between those of middle and premium gasoline grades.”

“Biofuel production is complex. The feedstock must be gathered and concen­trated (a nontrivial matter, as it's dispersed and not very dense). Whatever the process, it requires a lot of water. There's lots of waste, albeit much of it with other uses. The choice of feedstock is a key issue. If it's corn, only the starch is used. Transformed into sugars, these are then fermented. Last, the result is distilled to produce ethanol. Some say we barely have enough corn to support near-term Renewable Fuels Standard(RFS) goals, let alone those set for 2015 and beyond. What's more, increasing corn production has trade­offs of water use, pesticide runoff and in­herent risks of a monoculture.”

“For example, researchers have looked at greenhouse-gas emissions and total en­vironmental impact of a variety of biofuel sources. A goodly number - U.S. corn, Brazilian sugar cane, Malaysian palm oil­ - were shown to have greater environmental detriment than gasoline. By contrast, feed­stocks of basic cellulosic nature, things like wood chips, grass, even household garbage, hold promise.”

So, remember to not throw the baby out with the bath water. Hang on to that gas guzzler for awhile longer. I have what most people refer to as a ‘high performance vehicle’ yet I can set the cruise control at 80 mph and still get 28 mpg! And if I need to go faster, I can just ‘punch it’ and have a really good time.

Actually, now that I think of it, my car is a HYBRID – it burns gas and rubber.