The Greening of Ethanol

By Dennis Barker

Posted July 15, 2008, at 1 p.m.

Let's drive right past the current ghastly price of gasoline and park in front of what could be a happier time for motorists. Recent developments indicate that ethanol, the most available alternative to gasoline, can overcome some of its drawbacks and production challenges.

But first, for those trying to keep their biofuels straight, just what is ethanol?

Ethanol is a liquid fuel produced by fermenting plant sugars. In the United States, most is produced from corn. At an increasing number of pumps today (1,500 in the U.S. as of March, mostly in the Midwest), you can buy E85, a high-octane blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. Price fluctuates, but this E85 blend tends to cost less than regular unleaded (federal subsidies help). In 2007 the U.S. produced about 6 billion gallons of ethanol. According to an estimate from the American Farm Bureau Federation, that was 228 million barrels of oil the country didn't have to buy.

A vehicle needs a flexible fuel engine to operate on E85 or other blends, but those engines are now standard on many models from GM, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, Mazda and Nissan. The engines are slightly modified with a sensor that determines the ethanol content of fuel. But lest you think only boxy mom-and-pop-type models will run on ethanol, Ferrari announced at the Detroit Auto Show that it will build a model of its $200,000 F430 sports car that can use the fuel, too.

Most people associate ethanol with corn since most of the ethanol produced in the U.S. comes from corn. Corn-based ethanol has been criticized by some studies showing that converting corn to fuel uses more energy — fossil-based energy — than it puts in your tank. But tests done last year at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology concluded that the difference is ultimately negligible. Others object to using a food crop as a fuel crop, claiming demand will drive up prices in the kitchen. The objections to corn-based ethanol could soon be moot. Many experts see it as a transition fuel, an on-ramp to a more productive source. As Clay Sell, U.S. Deputy Energy Secretary said recently, "I'm not going to predict what the price of corn is going to do, but I will tell you the future of biofuels in not based on corn."

Right now it looks like that future is cellulosic ethanol — fuel made from fast-growing plants like switchgrass, wheatstraw and other organic matter, including woodchips and possibly trash. A company called Coskata says it has developed a process that can produce cellulosic ethanol for $1 a gallon. With backing from GM, Coskata says it is building refineries and could soon be producing 40,000 gallons a year.

GM has also invested in Mascoma, saying that its single-step cellulose-to-ethanol method will lower production costs.

And in May, chemical giant DuPont announced it would form a joint venture with Danisco, a Danish biotech company, to develop methods to lower the cost of cellulosic ethanol production. DuPont projects that North America will produce 30 billion gallons of ethanol by 2020, and half will come from cellulosic sources.

Clearly ethanol isn't going to help motorists much on the road this vacation season. And it's going to be a while before E85 or its successor outpaces gasoline at the pump. But if the country invests in new technologies like biomass refineries, focuses on developing renewable fuels, and American ingenuity is allowed to prevail, vehicle owners and the nation will benefit.

Bio: Dennis Barker has been writing about science and technology for more than 20 years. During that time he has served as an editor at several leading computer and technology industry publications.

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