O Canada: Shell Puts Biofuel in Pumps, Ford Tests Plug-Ins

By Fredrik Wass

Shell (RDS.A) and Ford (F) Wednesday made project announcements that, while they might be small steps, take both companies in a greener direction. And both partnered with Canadian companies to make these deals happen.

Shell announced that customers at a gas station in Ottawa, Ontario, will be the first to fill their cars with gas blended with biofuel. Shell claims it's the first service station in the world providing advanced biofuel made from wheat straw. All gasoline sold at the station will contain 10 percent cellulosic ethanol, produced by Canadian Iogen Energy Corp.

Cellulosic ethanol is identical to ethanol but offers 90 percent fewer CO2 emissions compared to regular gasoline, claims Shell and others. Shell and Iogen have partnered in setting up a demonstration power plant producing 40,000 liters per month, announced Canadian Transport and Infrastructure Minister John Baird.

"This is a great day for Canadian technology and proof that Canada's commitment to developing low CO2fuels is starting to pay dividends for the environment, farmers and consumers," said Baird in a statement.

Shell notes that there's still a lot to be done before the biofuel could be available for a vast amount of consumers, but it is a start. Shell is also a big advocate of GTL, a liquid fuel that is made from natural gas.

Hydro-Quebec and Ford, meanwhile, announced a three-year research program on plug-in hybrids. Nine utilities in North America will use 21 cars that will collect vehicle data such as battery technology, customer use and grid infrastructure. Hydro-Quebec will be the only Canadian utility taking part in the program, which will be conducted by Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI).

Pushing plug-in hybrids to utilities seems to be a common strategy among automakers. A few years ago, plug-ins were strictly for hobbyists but major manufacturers will release them in limited volumes over the next three years. Chalk it up to customer demand and government tax incentives (see The Myth of Electric Vehicle Subsidies).

"We believe collaboration with utility companies to explore new business models, standards, infrastructure and communication between vehicle and electric grids will be a key component to advancing the commercialization of electric vehicles in the coming years," said Nancy Gioia, director of the Sustainable Mobility Technologies and Hybrid Vehicle programs at Ford.

According to Hydro-Quebec, the transport sector in Quebec accounts for 42 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions.

"The reduction in greenhouse gas emissions that could be achieved through the electrification of transport in Quebec, where 98 percent of the electricity is produced from renewable sources, would be considerable," said Thierry Vandal, Hydro-Quebec’s president and CEO, in a statement.

Comments

[Fred Linn:]

So Canada jumps into the pack leading the way. Along with Brazil, Spain, China, Sweden, Norway, Germany, France, and many other nations.

Brazil has already switched to biofuels. Sweden leads Europe in biofuel technology. Chemrec is busy converting Swedish and Norwegian lumber and pulp industry to producing ethanol from wood waste----technology used in the US and Germany over a century ago to produce ethanol in commercial quantities from logging industry waste.

China is already building cars that run on hydrous ethanol. Straight from the still, no mixing required. Production is set to hit 2.8 million units this year, up from 1.7 last year.

Abengoa, the Spanish national energy company is currently building 6 of the largest ethanol production facilities in the world in China. To produce ethanol from bamboo, crop waste and other cellulose sources. Too bad really, US companies could have gotten a big piece of the pie---if we hadn't been stuck fighting a war over fossil fuel oil resources and had kept up with direction the world and technology is moving.

If you snooze, you lose.

Jun 11 04:39 PM

[Tdot:]

US automakers have been making and selling E85 (and even Natural Gas) powered vehicles for decades. Most people fill their E85 cars with gasoline instead - because they get better range and mpg with pure gasoline. They only pay for E85 if it is substantially cheaper, so their monthly fuel bills drop, rather than rise. There are precious few who actually go around actively and deliberately seeking out an E85 pump, so they can feel good about themselves for using "green" fuel, for more money and less range, especially in this recession.

But to date, the total Cost to Society to build an Ethanol infrastucture has not been there from a basic economics standpoint. Building a true full-up Ethanol Industry, using whatever biomatter can be found, and capable of totally and truly replacing petroleum for transportation and other needs, will cost us $-trillions.

True, the US is "addicted" to petroleum-based fuels, and the multi-trillion-dollar industry of wells, offshore rigs, refineries, distribution, retail outlets, and transportation systems is a massive investment built up over 100 years. You cannot switch to Ethanol overnight. Ethanol is fundamentally incompatible with the petroleum infrastructure. Tank and hose seals that work great for petroleum fuels, melt in ethanol. Ethanol absorbs water, literally out of thin air, with leads to all sorts of combustion efficiency issues. It cannot be stored or transported in the conventional sense. So we would have to have two parallel energy systems, working side by side, for the forseeable future, with doubled investments. Nobody has come forward with a multi-trillion dollar nationwide (or global) Ethanol plan yet.

One can argue that the Oil Industry is somehow preventing the Ethanol Industry from getting underway. But "they" - Oil - have been there. They built the US petroleum industry, at great cost of blood, sweat, tears, and lives. Yes they have earned trillions, but only after spending trillions. Who is going to go through all that again - rebuilding virtually everything, unless there is promise of huge payoff in the coming years? The taxpayers are going to end up building an Ethanol System and Infrastructure, literally from scratch. Yes, Americans can get all "patriotic" about finally freeing themselves from "enslavement" to the middle-eastern oil suppliers. But that does not pay the bills. It would be a massive investment - again - of blood, sweat, tears, and lives, not to mention money. We already game away the future by bailing out the banking industry with TARP and TALF, never mind the auto and insurance industries. Back to the feeding trough again already? Ready for doubled and re-doubled taxes? Volunteers? Anyone?

Jun 17 07:32 AM