The Last Frost

This is something that we have eluded to in the past, the benefits of Ethanol fuel are real, but not very impressive when compared with other fuels such as biodiesel or hydrogen.  According to the article, biodiesel is 90% more energy efficient than ethanol, making it the better choice of the two. Although most people don't have cars that can run off of biodiesel so ethanol is really the only available option.

The real problem with both these fuels is that they are created from food. Corn in the case of ethanol and soybeans in the case of biodiesel. The truth is America could never replace the current supplies of gasoline with ethanol and biodiesel because there simply isn't enough available farmland. Suddenly, Americans would be competing for food against their own cars… which for obvious reasons is not a realistic scenario.

These fuels should really be thought of as tools to aid with the transition to more sustainable technologies, such as electric and hydrogen powered vehicles. 

Ethanol Benefits Questioned » [ConsumerAffairs.com]

It's official… biodiesel is now a word, according to the Mirriam-Webster Dictionary at least. Ok… now get back to work. 

‘Biodiesel’ finds way into dictionary » [The Peninsula On-line]

Sweet looking car isn't it. It goes zero to 60 in 4 seconds, has a range of 250 miles, it's engine runs at 13,500 rpm and runs off of nothing but electricity. Tesla Motors is a car company you have probably never heard of but I think you'll be hearing a lot more about them soon. The company is backed by several very successful silicon valley executives including the founders of Google. The Roadster is slated to go on sale next year and the cost is well, who knows but my guess is that it'll be somewhere in the 1/2 million range, $100,000 range.

For more info on the car visit: TeslaMotors.com  

Tesla Roadster: Redefining the Electric Car » [AutoBlog.com]

Popular Mechanics produced a great article on the pros and cons of many alternative fuels. They break down the facts on Ethanol, Methanol, Natural Gas, Biodiesel, Electricity, Hydrogen, and of course fryer oil.

Crunching the numbers on alternative fuels » [Popular Mechanics]

Ford has begun mass producing V-10 hydrogen powered engines for use in their shuttle buses. They are the first auto company worldwide to mass produce hydrogen powered engines.

Ford's hydrogen engine in production » [Times.co.nz]

The Governor of New York George Pataki, has announced plans to open an E85 fueling station on the New York State Thruway. This adds another fueling option to the more than 200,000 flex-fuel vehicles registered in the state. The location of the new fueling station is indicated on the map above by the green arrow. Although ethanol is certainly not the answer to the problem of global warming, it is a better option than gasoline and may help in the meantime. The plan is to make E85 available at all fueling stations along the highway. 

E85 on NYS Thruway » [Star-Gazette.COM]

A good article about some of the research into hydrogen powered cars being done today by manufacturers. They say these cars may be on the road by 2015 or 2020. It can't happen soon enough.

Hydrogen cars to hit the road by 2015? » [CNET News.com]

Volvo's hedging their bets when it comes to alternative fuels. They have developed a prototype vehicle that runs on almost any fueld that is produced in your area. It can run on ethanol, methane, hydrogen, natural gas, or regular gasoline. Unfortunately it won't run on biodiesel, that really would have been an accomplishment. It doesn't look like it sacrifices much in the performance department or in looks for that matter, it's still got that traditionally boxy Volvo shape.

Volvo Releases Details on their flexible fuel vehicle » [Inside Line]

A hydrogen fuel station which cost over a million dollars to setup and will only power 1 car as some sort of test has been setup in Burlington, VT. What is there left to test?! We know for a fact hydrogen cars work, so let's work on lowering the costs of hydrogen technology and start mass marketing it. 

What really set me off with this article is the end where they talk about how the technology is too expensive for general use. The United States is a relatively rich country… I think we can figure this out. 

Burlington gets region's first hydrogen station » [Boston.com]

The Indonesian government recently had plans to bulldoze 2 million acres of rainforest to make way for the plant necessary for creating biodiesel. Luckily this plan was scrapped because the terrain turned out to be unsuitable. There's a saying about good intentions…

Bulldoze the rainforest for biodiesel? » [FP Passport]