The candidates and Florida's Energy Future.

One of Florida's leading environmental groups, Environment Florida, launched a campaign this week calling on congressional candidates to support policies to move America beyond oil and toward a cleaner energy future.

The campaign is being backed by the Sierra Club, Defenders of Wildlife, Clean Water Action, the Ocean Conservancy, and the Hillsborough County League of Women Voters.

"There is no question that America has the know-how to reduce our dependence on oil and move toward a cleaner, more secure energy future," says Mark Ferrulo, Environment Florida Director.

Environment Florida proposes this list of political pledges to secure a 'New Energy Future.'

    * Reduce U.S. dependence on oil by one-third by 2025;
    * Harness clean, renewable, homegrown energy for one quarter of all consumption by 2025;
    * Save energy with high performance homes, buildings and appliances
and
    * tripling research and development funding for the energy-saving and renewable technologies.

"The potential payback from these efforts is tremendous," according to Brian Frost, President of Energy Reapers, Inc., a Tampa based company that helps businesses, schools and hospitals cut their energy use.

Candidates have been given until Oct. 27 to sign the pledge. The Fueling Station will be sure to keep you posted on how they respond. How do you feel about your representive's positions on energy and the environment? Do more Americans care about these issues today because of fuel prices and global warming? Post a comment and let us know your thoughts.

Environment Florida has also released a report showing the benefits of these policies to America's environment, economy, and national security.

Click here to read story in the St Petersburg Times by Dong-Phuong Nguyen.
Click here to read Environment Florida's report.

- David Adams

Posted by Times Editor at 2:24:56 PM on September 30, 2006 in Biodiesel , Coal , Ethanol , Global Warming , Hydrogen , Nuclear , Oil and gas , Other energy alternatives , Solar , Wind | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wal-Mart embraces green energy.

I have been alerted to a fascinating story in USA Today that ran earlier this week about Wal-Mart's groundbreaking renewable energy strategy.

It's called 'Embrace the Earth,' and it seems the company is passionate about it from the executives on down.

"The $312.4 billion retailing giant has launched an aggressive program to encourage "sustainability" of the world's fisheries, forests and farmlands, to slash energy use and reduce waste, to push its 60,000 suppliers to produce goods that don't harm the environment, and to urge consumers to buy green," writes USA Today reporter, Mindy Fetterman.

Wal-Mart has even gone as far as to start reporting on its "greenhouse gases" emissions.

"We asked ourselves: If we had known 10 years ago what challenges we would face today, what would we have done different?" says CEO Lee Scott. "What struck us was: This world is much more fragile than any of us would have thought years ago."

Already, Wal-Mart has become the world's largest purchaser of organic cotton, and it also buys "fair trade" coffee. Now it is investing $500 million in energy saving technology. It also plans to cut gasoline use by its truck fleet and cut energy use at its 7,000 stores by 30%.

I'm also told that the company plans to start using non-petroleum plastics for its wrapping. I'll have to check this out as USA Today don't mention that. (Plastics can be made from food crops such as sugar cane and corn.)

Some critics call the efforts "green-washing" to dress up its image. But USA Today quotes other environmentalists who are "ecstatic."

"Wal-Mart is a huge player, and they have enormous clout," says Scott Burns of the World Wildlife Fund. "They're sending a very powerful signal that already is having effects on the way people produce products for them."

Wal-Mart is apparently the largest private user of electricity in the US!!

Click here to read the USA Today story.

Click here for Wal-Mart's environmental 'Pledge to our Planet.'

The 'pocket rocket' Obvio. It's coming to America!

We recently posted an item about Florida innovators which mentioned the Pompano company, Apollo Energy Systems, and its decades-long work on fuel cells and battery-powered electric cars. Company president Robert Aronsson told us about his collaboration with Zap, (which stands for Zero Energy Pollution) a company in California hoping to introduce a Brazilian-built hybrid-fuel, three-seater car into the U.S. market, called the Obvio.

Newsweek magazine in its Oct 2 edition out this week features the Obvio in a story from Brazil.
Newsweek reports that the first batch of 50,000 Obvios will be hitting the U.S. in the fall of 2007.
Just nine feet long, Newsweek says it is 34 inches shorter than the Mini Cooper.
The Obvio gets 40 mpg on the highway, 29 in the city, which is better than the Mini. At $14,000, it retails for about half the price of a Toyota Prius. (A sportier Obvio will fetch $28,000.)

Click here for the Newsweek story.

- David Adams

Let's terminate global warming, says Arnie. With a little help from his friends, like Tony Blair???

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed into law America's first global warming legislation that imposes a cap on greenhouse gas emissions.

Arnie says we have to "slow down global warming before it's too late." He calls it one of the most important issues of modern times.

''We simply must do everything we can in our power to slow down global warming before it is too late,'' he said during an address before signing the bill.

It seems British Prime Minister Tony Blair had a hand in this. Blair apparently struck a deal with Schwarzenegger over the summer to develop clean technologies and he joined the California ceremony via video link.

Blair called the bill-signing ''a proud day for political leadership'' and "a historic day for the rest of the world, as well.''

The British PM apparently wants to create a 'coalition of the willing' among those U.S. states prepared to join the European Union's carbon trading scheme. The Blair-Schwarzenegger deal came at a meeting in Long Beach earlier this year organized by Steve Howard, CEO of the Climate Group, an international charity working to cut greenhouse gas emissions, and Lord Browne, chairman of British Petroleum. Virgin's Sir Richard Branson was also present.

The two-year-old EU carbon trading scheme sets country-by-country overall caps for carbon, and rewards individual companies which find a profitable way to minimize carbon emissions.

All Tony needs to do now is get to work on George W!!

Click here for more news on California new 'green law'.
Click here for the report from the BBC.
Click here for the report on the Environment News Service. ("We Cover the Earth for You.")

- David Adams

The trend in wind really is global! India and China joining in.

The New York Times has a lead story in its Business Day section today on 'The Ascent of Wind Power', datelined from India. Apparently it's really taken off there, so to speak, and a company called Suzlon Energy has leapfrogged some of the big European firms.

Click here to read the story.

7-Eleven Drops Citgo.

7-Eleven Inc. has dropped Venezuela-owned Citgo as its gasoline supplier after more than 20 years. The company says the decision was partly in response to recent verbal attacks on president Bush by Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez.

Chavez called Bush "the devil" in a specch at the United Nations last week. The next day in Harlem he described him as an "alcoholic."

But 7-Eleven says it was planning to sever ties with Citgo anyway as part of a previously announced plan by the convenience store operator to launch its own brand of fuel.

Experts say the move by 7-Eleven would likely have only minor impact on Citgo gas sales in the United States.

There are some 2,100 7-Eleven outlets nationally that serve Citgo gas, making up only a fraction of the company's 14,000 branded outlets (Citgo doesn't own any gas stations but operates on an exclusive branding basis.)

"It's not a surprise that 7-Eleven made this decision," says Jim Smith, president of the Florida Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association. "They have been looking at cutting ties for six months. I'm sure they would have prefered a phased debranding but President Chavez just made it that much easier to sever ties completely."

Smith told The Fueling Station that he doesn't think it will have a big impact on consumers, and in fact could help bring down gas prices even more by putting more barrels on the spot market.

"The spot market is where Citgo would put it," he says. "Consumers wont be able to tell the difference. It just won't be called Citgo."

But Citgo could have a problem as they recently opted to move away fronm the Mid-West market and focus on the east which they regarded as a more dependable high volume market. "Citgo will have to be more aggressive in moving their product to market," he said.

But the U.S. and Venezuela will joined at the hip for years to come as the U.S. needs Venezuela's oil, and venezuela needs the U.S. market (despite trying to sell more to China.)

"We are just going to have to continue to watch him (Chavez) making auditions for Comedy Tonight," Smith says.

Chavez won supporters in the United States last year after he sent 2-million barrels of oil to help alleviate shortages after Hurricane Katrina. He followed that up this year by sending 40 million gallons of discounted heating oil to low-income residents in Baltimore, Boston and New York. Last week, a day after his U.N. speech, Chavez told a crowd in Harlem that he planned to up the program to 100 million gallons in 17 states.
But some of Chavez’s U.S. sympathizers have backed away after the name-calling at the U.N.. One of them, Charlie Rangel, the Democrat who represents Harlem in Congress, was furious. “You don’t come into my country, you don’t come into my congressional district, and you don’t condemn my president,” he said.

Venezuela’s delegation to the U.N. says it has received “very positive” feedback since Chavez’s speech. A spokesperson told The Fueling Staion that senior U.S. officials have been just as rude about Chavez, comparing him to Hitler and accusing him of being soft on terrorists and drug traffickers.

Click here to read a full report from the St. Petersburg Times.
Click here for St. Petersburg Times story on efforts to boot Citgo from the Florida Turnpike.
Click here for Rumsfeld's remarks likening Chavez to Hitler.

Melon fuel. Yummeeee!

Watermelon harvestors abandon 20-25 percent of the crop that they grow every year.

So Bob Morrissey, executive director of the National Watermelon Association, has an idea: Why not create a new revenue stream for those 800 million pounds of watermelons abandoned every year? Why not turn the melons into fuel?

Watermelons are about 10-14 percent sugar, which is ideal for making ethanol.

Morrissey attended the Georgia Bioenergy Conference at the beginning of August to get some ideas. By partnering with Georgia biofuels plants, he says the watermelon industry hopes to conduct tests to determine how much ethanol could be produced from an average acre of watermelons.

"With all the varieties of fruits and vegetables we grow in Florida, we should be able to convert each and every one of them into ethanol or biodiesel somehow, some way," he said.

Morrison believes watermelons could provide growers with a new market for their products that now, simply rot in the field. "Every little bit helps. And if watermelon can be a catalyst, maybe we could help the peach growers, maybe even the citrus people, if their processing contracts fall short. And there's strawberries and tomatoes and gosh knows what else. It's sort of like Katie bar the door!"

(actually Bob, citrus is already busy working on ethanol. Check out this recent article in the St Petersburg Times)

For more information click here to visit the Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association

- David Adams

Brazil biodiesel investors look to long term.

There's growing concern in the alternative energy industry that falling oil prices will scare off investors. This nascent industry lacks major capital investment and badly needs stability, as well as federal tax credit support and loan guarantees.

But the current drop in oil prices hasn't put off a group of U.S. and Brazilian investors currently looking to build the world's largest biodiesel plant in Sao Paulo state. Their goal is to build the world's largest biodiesel plant, capable of producing 835 million liters of biofuel annually. The current largest biodiesel plant currently produces over 500 million liters and is located on the Poland-Germany border.

"Oil is a big player in the entire world push for biofuels. It's the benchmark," David DeWind, one of the lead investors in Brasil Eco Energia, a new biofuel company in Brazil, tells Dow Jones Newswires. "But you have to look at the global situation. You have increases in population, you have increases in energy consumption and even if they discover an oil field off the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, you're looking at years before that oil comes on line. It' years before you have fuel cells. And even when you have that, biofuels will still be big because of global warming concerns and that is not going to go away."

Those are the words of a wise man.

- David Adams

Honda's flex-fuel plans. Oh to be a Brazilian!!

Honda is revealing its latest E100 ethanol cars designed specifically for introduction later this year in the Brazilian market: The Civic FFV and the Fit FFV.
Honda says its new FFV (Flexible Fuel Vehicle) can run on 100 per cent ethanol or any ethanol-gasoline fuel mixture.

"The new Honda system adapts to different ethanol-to-gasoline ratios by estimating the concentration of ethanol in the ethanol-gasoline mix in the fuel tank based on measurements of exhaust gas concentration in the vehicle's exhaust system," according to a Honda press release.

That's a pretty long-winded way of saying you can put whatever you want in the tank and it will run just fine.
Personally, I am a big fan of Honda, having owned a Civic hatchback for a dozen years. (I confess that my wife now drives a gas-guzzling Honda Element!)
But Honda's claim that it has developed a new system is a bit sly. It may be new to Honda, but everyone else in Brazil has been using it for three years already. Honda is trying to hide the fact that they have been slow to get into the FFV market. Their "new" system is no different from the Magneti-Marelli designed FFV system Volkswagen began using in 2003 with its popular Gol model, the first FFV to hit Brazil's roadways.
(Read my story last year in the St Petersburg Times on how Brazilian engineers developed the FFV vehicle.)

Most journalists seem to be fixated on the hydrogen fuel cars currently being tested, while ignoring the ethanol vehicles. BusinessWeek writer Ian Rowley got very excited when he was allowed to test drive Honda's new FCX fuel-cell prototype in Japan the other day. Only later on did he go on to report the following:

"But of all the green machines buzzing round the track in Tochigi, it was Honda's flexible fuel vehicles [FFVs], burning ethanol or mixtures of gasoline and ethanol, that are closest to
production. On the test track, Honda offered the keys to a 1.4-liter Fit subcompact FFV and 1.8-liter Civic...."
Rowley concluded: "Honda plans to introduce its FFVs in Brazil by the end of this year. That's eagerly awaited, no doubt, but for me the FCX Compact was the star of the show."
The Honda FCX

We'd have to disagree with his conclusion. To be sure, hydrogen fuel cell cars are cool. But where are they? Ethanol technology is ready today, if only American car manufacturers would put more FFV's on the road (and, to be fair to the car              companies, if there was more ethanol available to motorists).

We'd have to disagree with his conclusion. To be sure, hydrogen fuel cell cars are cool. But where are they? Ethanol technology is ready today, if only American car manufacturers would put more FFV's on the road (and, to be fair to the car companies, if there was more ethanol available to motorists).

As one of our readers emailed me after reading the Honda press release: "Just wish they would offer them to the US market.!!!!"

Click here for the BusinessWeek story.
Click here for Honda's press release.
Click here for more information on Honda's Brazil plans from the Green Car Congress.
Click here to read about Honda cellulosic ethanol research in Japan.

- David Adams

Citgo 'bedeviled' by fiery speech

A South Florida legislator wants to make Venezuela President Hugo Chavez pay for calling President Bush "the devil."

In what he describes as "a wakeup call for America," state Rep. Adam Hasner, R-Delray Beach, is requesting that Florida strip Citgo, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Venezuela's state-run oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa), of its contract to operate gas stations on Florida's Turnpike.

Chavez called Bush "the devil" in a speech at the United Nations last week. In a letter to Florida's secretary of transportation, Denver Stutler, Hasner said terminating the state's turnpike contract with Citgo would "send a clear message to Chavez ... that the state of Florida will not support institutions that seek the destabilization of America."

Hasner said Chavez's speech highlighted the urgent need for the United States to reduce its dependence on foreign oil by developing home-grown alternative fuels.

The 312-mile Florida turnpike has seven rest areas about 45 miles apart, each exclusively serving Citgo gas. But terminating the Citgo contract may not be so easy - or wise - according to industry experts. Citgo has 14,000 branded gas station outlets in the U.S., including many in Florida. The turnpike gas stations are not owned by Citgo but enjoy well-priced guaranteed market supply from the Venezuelan owned company.(Venezuela supplies about 11 per cent of U.S. daily petroleum imports.) If the contract was cut, or was not renewed when it expires soon, it might be difficult to find a competitively-priced alternative in the current tight market, according to Jim Smith, president of the Florida Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Store Association.

"I understand where Representative Hasner is coming from," he told The Fueling Station. "I don't know anybody in our industry who likes being obligated to people who are as nuts as that guy (Chavez). But facts are facts. We need to find out how deep the water is before we jump," he said.

Click here for the story in today's St Petersburg Times.

- David Adams

Chevron to Pursue Joint Research Into Biofuels

Chevron Corporation is funding a $25 million research project with the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) to convert cellulosic biomass into transportation fuels.

The joint research effort will coordinate with the California Biomass Collaborative to focus on renewable feedstocks available in California, including agricultural waste such as rice straw.

The objective of the Chevron-UC Davis research is to develop commercially viable processes for the production of transportation fuels from renewable resources such as new energy crops, forest and agricultural residues, and municipal solid waste. The collaboration calls for research in biochemical and thermochemical conversion, as well as a demonstration facility to test the commercial readiness of these technologies.

"We think it's important to pursue research that could accelerate the use of biofuels since we believe they may play an integral role in diversifying the world's energy sources. Developing next-generation processing technology will help broaden the choice of feedstocks, including cellulosic materials."
--  Don Paul, vice president and chief technology officer, Chevron Corporation.

The alliance with UC Davis is the second biofuels research partnership launched by Chevron this year. In June, Chevron and the Georgia Institute of Technology formed a strategic research alliance focusing on cellulosic biofuels and hydrogen. Chevron also is investing in conventional biofuels. Chevron has formed a biofuels business unit to advance technology and pursue commercial opportunities related to the production and distribution of biofuels in the United States. The company has invested in a new biodiesel facility in Galveston, Texas, that aims to produce diesel fuel from soybeans and other renewable feedstocks.

Click here for Chevron press release.
Click here for UC Davis press release.

GM developing home hydrogen refueling device

General Motors is building a prototype for a home hydrogen refueling unit in hope of selling fuel-cell cars by 2011, according to USA Today.

The unit would make hydrogen using either electricity or sunlight, allowing customers to fill their cars overnight in their own garages.

GM's vice Chairman, Bob Lutz, now predicts that fuel-cell-powered vehicles could go on sale in as few as five years from now, beating previous forecasts by a decade.

Click here to read the article in USA Today.

- David Adams

How 'internal combustion' addicted us to oil. Must read!

'Internal Combustion: How Corporations and Governments Addicted the World To Oil and Derailed the Alternatives.' By Edwin Black. St Martin's Press. 396 pages. $27.95

This is the book I have been waiting to read. Black writes that early last century America was poised to create an independent energy future with electric battery powered cars. Great names such as Thomas Edison and Henry Ford, were part of this bright new future. Already back then scientists were keenly aware of the dangers of pollution and the need for clean alternatives.
Black points to collusion and corporate greed by energy cartels who created a system of forced scarcity and tightly controlled resources. Efforts to break away from the infernal combustion engine were thwarted at every turn by companies such as General Motors.

Black covers a lot of ground. But his early chapters are the strongest. In the middle, and especially towards the end, he loses his way and his writing becomes muddled. He gets carried away with comments like this:
"General Motors is probably the most unpatriotic and destructive automotive company in the history of this country. They've done more to adversely affect our transportation than any other company. They continue to hurt this country....."

Click here for a review by Miami Herald columnist Richard Pachter.
Click here for an interview with the author.

Earthrace: Greased up to go, but no money.

We wrote the other day about the Earthrace, a biodiesel boat that is trying to break the world record for circumnavigating the world by a powerboat. Seems the effort is running out of money. The boat's owner, Pete Bethune, is stuck in California and hasn't been able to raise sponsorship money.

If you love biofuels and are feeling generous, he can be contacted at: 1-213-7936295

Click here to read about Earthrace's financial woes.

- David Adams

Up or down, politics and gas prices. Where is the smart money going?

How will gas prices play out this election season? That's the subject of an op-ed in the New York Times today (to read it click here). Democrats and Republicans both seem to think it will help them.

Even though oil prices are falling, Democrats believe voters know that prices are much higher today than they were 18 months ago, and that they are likely to head back up towards $3 again soon. Republicans are confident that newspaper headlines about falling gas prices makes the government look better.

But so far as the auto industry is concerned, the damage appears to have been done. Consumers now prefer smaller cars that sip fuel over big SUVs, according to the New York Times.

Here's the view of the The Fueling Station: Anyone who thinks the fall in oil prices means the gas crisis is over, is deluding themselves. Instead, look where the smart money is going. Sir Richard Branson announced last week that he would invest $3 billion to combat global warming and promote rewable energy.

"I really do believe the world is facing a catastrophe and there are scientists who say we are already too late, but I don't believe that is the case. The majority of scientists think we can still do something about it," he said.

Branson has already announced the creation of Virgin Fuels, which will invest $400 million in development of nonpetroleum fuels. Some $70 million of that has already been invested in Cilion, according to today's New York Times. Cilion is a new company based in California that plans to build ethanol plants, the paper says.
Cilion was created by Western Milling, California's largest grain milling company, and Khosla Ventures, the brainchild of Vinod Khosla, one of America's top venture capitalists and the former founding CEO of Sun Microsystems.
Branson and Khosla aren't the only smart investors who are into ethanol. Bill Gates recently invested in Pacific Ethanol in California.

Click here for the latest on Cilion from our fellow bloggers at The Energy Blog.

Click here for Saturday's New York Times article on how 'Decline in Gas Prices Isn't Buoying Detroit.'

- David Adams

Progress Energy seeks nuclear expansion.

Nuclear energy is surging back into favor in the wake of high oil prices and dwindling fossil fuel resources. The latest evidence of this trend comes from Progress Energy Florida.

Progress says it plans to ask regulators for permission expand capacity by 20 per cent at its Crystal River nuclear plant on Florida's west coast.

Progress says increasing the plant's gross output from 900 megawatts (MW) to 1,080 MW will be enough to serve an additional 110,700 homes. "This innovative project is another way we are managing the rising costs of fossil fuels used to generate electricity," said Jeff Lyash, president and CEO of Progress Energy Florida.

The expansion proposal at Crystal River is in addition to possible plans Progress has to build a new nuclear plant in Florida. The company says it is in the process of evaluating potential sites. FP&L, Florida's largest power utility is also considering building a new nuclear plant.

The 104 U.S. nuclear power plants are licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to operate for 40 years, and can renew their licenses for an additional 20 years. To date, 44 have received license renewal and 34 more are expected to have their licenses renewed, according to the Nuclear Energy Institute. Eventually, virtually all U.S. nuclear plants are expected to apply for license renewal.

Despite the thorny and contentious issue of how to dispose of nuclear waste, some top scientific minds are also beginning to speak out in favor of nuclear energy as the fastest way to tackle global warming. Click here to read 'A conversation with James E. Lovelock.'

Click here to read the story on Progress Energy's nuclear plans by Helen Huntley in the St Petersburg Times.

Click here for Progress Energy press release.

- David Adams

Renewables ARE becoming competitive.

The Fueling Station recommends to our readers an impressive new report by two independent U.S. research groups has concluded that many of the new renewable energy technologies "are, or soon will be," economically competitive with fossil fuels.

Renewable sources currently provide just over 6 percent of total U.S. energy consumption, but that figure could increase rapidly in the years ahead, according to the joint report by the Worldwatch Institute and the Center for American Progress, titled "American Energy: The Renewable Path to Energy Security."

"If there was ever a time when a major shift in U.S. energy policy was possible, it is now," the report says. The 40-page report is clearly the product of some serious thought and covers all the main renewable energy sources. Some of the report's findings include:

     * Since 2000, global wind energy generation has more than tripled; providing enough electricity to power the homes of about 30 million Americans. The United States led the world in wind energy installations in 2005.
     * solar cell production has risen six-fold.
     * production of fuel ethanol from crops have more than doubled in the last five years, and biodiesel production has expanded nearly four-fold.
     * annual global investment in "new" renewable energy has risen almost six-fold since 1995, with cumulative investment over this period nearly $180 billion.
     * Renewable energy creates more jobs per unit of energy produced and per dollar spent than fossil fuel technologies do.

But the report also finds that:

     "The United States will need a much stronger commitment to renewable energy if it is to take advantage of these commitments ..... despite strong public support and rapidly rising interest in renewable technologies, the U.S. has not kept up with the rapid growth in the sector globally over the past decade. If the U.S. is to join the world leaders in renewable energy--among them Germany, Spain, and Japan—it will need world-class energy policies based on a sustained and consistent policy framework at the local, state, and national levels."

Click here to read (or order) a copy of the report, “American Energy: The Renewable Path to Energy Security."
- David Adams

Exxon Mobil accused of misinformation on climate change.

The New York Times reports that Exxon Mobil is facing accusations of spreading “inaccurate and misleading” information about climate change and financing groups that misinform the public on the issue.

The charges are being made by the prestigious British scientific group, The Royal Society, which dates back to the 1600’s and has counted Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein as members. In a letter this month The Royal Society asked Exxon Mobil to stop financing these groups and to change its public reports to reflect more accurately the opinions of scientists on the issue.

In the letter, the Royal Society said it was “very difficult to reconcile the misrepresentations of climate change science in these documents with Exxon Mobil’s claims to be an industry leader.”

Click here to read the full story:

Click here to visit the Royal Society's website, 'Fact and Fictions about climate change.' (This document examines twelve misleading arguments put forward by the opponents of urgent action on climate change and highlights the scientific evidence that exposes their flaws.)

Consumer Reports on E85

The October 2006 issue of Consumer Reports contains a five-page cover story headlined "The Ethanol Myth." The story says CR staffers put a 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe flexible-fuel vehicle through an array of tests and interviewed more than 50 experts on the fuel.
As a result, the magazine says, "CR determined that E85 will cost consumers more money than gasoline and that there are concerns about whether the government's support of FFVs is really helping the U.S. achieve energy independence."

Among the problems noted by CR: The fuel economy of the Tahoe dropped 27 percent when running on E85, compared with gasoline, falling from an already low 14 mpg overall to 10 mpg. "This is the lowest fuel mileage we've gotten from any vehicle in recent years," the magazine noted.
And when CR calculated the Tahoe's driving range, it decreased to 300 miles on a tank of E85 as opposed to 440 miles on gas. "So you have to fill up more often on E85,'' the magazine pointed out.

Just getting the fuel to use in the test proved a major problem -- there are no commercial E85 filling stations in Connecticut, where CR has its auto testing station. The magazine had to buy its ethanol from a wholesaler in Alabama at $2.90 a gallon, then get a certified expert to blend it with gasoline to create E85.

But CR points out that FFV purchasers needn't worry if E85 is not widely available, or is more expensive than gasoline, because FFV engines can run on either fuel, or any blend of the two.

While E85 fuel consumption is significantly higher than gasoline, CR does point out that there is a good reason for that: FFV engines are designed to run more efficiently on gasoline. CR states that the auto industry to change that if it wanted to. "E85 fuel economy could approach that of gasoline if manufacturers optimized engines for that fuel," the report says.

CR also points out that U.S. energy policy is actually encouraging consumers to use more fuel. "The FFV surge is being motivated by generous fuel-economy credits that auto-makers get for every FFV they build, even if it never runs on E85. This allows them to pump out more gas-guzzling large SUVs and pickups, which is resulting in the consumption of many times more gallons of gasoline than E85 now replaces," the report says.

CR notes that sources other than Midwestern corn can make for a better ethanol product -- sugarcane, wood pulp and rye straw, for instance. Researchers are also developing cellulosic ethanol technology to produce ethanol more efficiently from other varieties of plant matter, which could radically increase global production.
One scientist tells CR that cellulosic ethanol also "has the ability to reduce CO2 emissions by close to half," compared with corn ethanol.

CR notes that ethanol proponents argue that despite its drawbacks, ethanol needs to be developed "because petroleum is a finite resource that is rapidly being depleted." CR adds that ethanol requires fewer technological breakthroughs and less infrastructure developments than batteries of fuel cells.

Converting gas stations can cost as much as $200,000, according to the American Petroleum Institute. This figure seems high, and the API, a petroleum industry association, is not known for its objectivity when it comes to alternative fuels. Inland Fuels told me it cost them about $30,000 to convert the pumps at it's new E85 station in Tallahassee this month. That was covered by a 30% tax credit.   

In conclusion, CR says it supports "the pursuit of more efficient ethanol production," and would like to see incentives "that motivate automakers to build more fuel-efficient models that today's buyers want."

Click here to read the full story online.

In a separate item, CR also reports this month that new diesel cars powered by a new blend of cleaner, ultra-low-sulphur diesel fuel are hitting the road. The first vehicle to take advantage of the new fuel is the 2006 VW Touareg V10 Tdi SUV. VW is also planning to bring out a VW Jetta in 2008. This new fuel will meet clean air regulations which have in the past kept diesel cars from being sold in all 50 states.
CR points out that diesel cars typically get about 30% better fuel economy that gasoline cars.

- Craig Pittman and David Adams

Way to go, Sir Richard!

Sir Richard Branson, the British magnate and balloonist, announced today he is pledging all future profits from his five airlines and train company, estimated at $3 billion through the next 10 years, to developing energy sources that do not contribute to global warming.

Branson made the stunning pledge on the second day of the Clinton Global Initiative, a three-day meeting in New York.

"The only way global warming is going to be beaten is to invest in new fuels that can actually replace fossil fuels," he told a press conference.

Click here to read the full story from the New York Times.

p.s. Branson is a member of the Steering Committee of the Energy Future Coalition, one of the links featured on the lower right hand side of this blog page.

Uncertain future of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles

MSN Autos online has an excellent feature article today on the future of Hydrogen fuel cell cars.

The article attempts to answer three questions everybody wants answered: how soon, how good, and how much?

The article says there are no good answers to those questions, unfortunately. But it then goes on to give a detailed look at the history of hydrogen vehicles and what the major car companies are doing.

Apparently there upwards of 125 of these vehicles that are being tested on streets and highways around the globe. But MSN writer Larry E. Hall says: "A real-world hydrogen fuel-cell electric car for everyday driving is still a long way."

Here's one of them, the General Motors HydroGen3, which is being tested commercially in Japan. It has a range of 250 miles and a top speed of 100 mph.

Click here to read Hall's article.

Energy is blowing in the wind

Last week we reported from Spain on how that country has made important progress in developing renewable energy technology, especially in wind farming. The St Petersburg Times follows up today with a report in its business section.

Speakers at a renewable energy conference I attended in Santander concluded that the United States and Spain face similar challenges: meeting rising energy demand, developing new technology and educating society about renewable alternatives and energy conservation.

Where the two countries differ most perhaps is philosophically. While Spain follows the general concern in Europe over global warming and setting targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Washington prefers to let technology be the driving force.

Check out what FPL Energy is doing nationwide in wind energy. You might be surprised.

-- David Adams

More car trouble

California today sued six of the world's largest automakers, including Ford, General Motors and Chrysler, over global warming, charging that greenhouse gases from their vehicles have caused billions of dollars in damages.

The lawsuit is apparently the first of its kind to seek to hold manufacturers liable for the damages caused by their vehicles' emissions.

The lawsuit notes that California is spending millions to deal with reduced snow pack, beach erosion, ozone pollution, and the impact on endangered animals and fish.

The lawsuit charges that vehicle emissions have contributed significantly to global warming in California, and have harmed the resources, infrastructure and environmental health of the state.

"The injuries have caused the people to suffer billions of dollars in damages, including millions of dollars of funds expended to determine the extent, location and nature of future harm and to prepare for and mitigate those harms, and billions of dollars of current harm to the value of flood control infrastructure and natural resources,'' it says.

       *     Listen to former Labor Secretary Robert Reich's take on NPR's Marketplace this afternoon.
       *     Click here for Thursday's New York Times report.      

-- David Adams

Friedman strikes again!

For his second consecutive column in the New York Times, Thomas Friedman hammered away this morning at the Brazil-ethanol story. I confess to being a bit of a fan of his alternative energy writing. Though unfortunately we cannot link his column to this blog due to NYT restrictions on its op-ed content, I want to give you the highlights:

Friedman attacks the 54 cent per gallon tariff on Brazilian ethanol as "really stupid." While it is designed to protect the U.S. corn ethanol industry, Friedman says we are hurting our own interests. Sugar cane ethanol could be produced all over Africa and the Caribbean, he points out, providing much needed assistance to our friends. Instead, we don't tax imported crude oil, "which definitely finances our rich enemies." (A bit unfair that if you are Canadian or Mexican!)

Friedman has a point here, but the importance of the 54 cent tariff may be overstated. Lifting the tariff would certainly give Brazil an extra reason to increase investment in its ethanol production.  But Brazil can probably look after itself. It doesn't actually have much ethanol going spare due to the huge domestic consumption of its flex-fuel cars (which run on gasoline or ethanol, or any blend of the two).

In fact, Friedman perhaps would do well to focus next on what the U.S. could do to incentivate ethanol production globally, especially in the poor countries of the Caribbean and Central America. Some sugar experts advocate bringing back the U.S. sugar import quotas which died in the 1980s, and were a tremendous economic blow to Latin America. If those quotes were restored, but for sugar cane-based ethanol, this would both help our "poor friends" and be a major step in creating a global market for ethanol.

Friedman adds that those who are concerned about the Amazon rainforest being cut down to grow sugar cane, need have no fear. Sugar is not grown anywhere near the Amazon. But he warns unplanned sugar cane crop expansion could be harmful to what remains of the Atlantic rainforest, as well as the savannah in the state of Sao Paulo, the sugar capital.

If Brazil is to expand its biocrops, Friedman says it is important that sugar farmers, governments and environmentalists sit down now and draw up careful plans to identify lands that need to be protected.

-- David Adams

Talking (a lot) about global warming

Today Congress begins six hearings on global warming in the span of six business days. One environmental group dug back through the records to find out how much time Congress has already spent on this subject. According to the research by the National Environmental Trust, over the last 30 years Congress has held 233 hearings on global warming -- without making any big changes in U.S. policy. The earliest: a 1975 Senate committee hearing on the ozone layer.

For those dedicated C-SPAN viewers, here's the hearing schedule that will bring us to a total of 239 congressional hearings:

1) Wednesday, Sept. 20: Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on the Asia Pacific Partnership.

2) Wednesday, Sept. 20: House Science Committee on the U.S. Climate Change Technology Program strategic plan.

3) Wednesday, September 20: House Research Subcommittee on the International Polar Year and Arctic impacts.

4) Thursday, September 21: House Government Reform Committee also on the U.S. Climate Change Technology Program strategic plan.

5) Wednesday, September 27: Government Reform Subcommittee on Energy and Resources on "Rebalancing the Carbon Cycle."

6) Tuesday, Sept. 26: Joint hearing by the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee and the  Foreign Relations Committee, on International Polar Year.

Government incentives for renewables - teleconference.

The American Council on Renewable Energy is holding a series of online seminars and teleconferences. These are intended to provide a forum for disseminating information about the expansion of markets for renewable energy and energy efficiency.

The next call is today at 12.00pm eastern time.
September 20 -- Maximizing Use of Government Incentives to Finance Renewable Energy Development The agenda features Alexander Karsner, Assistant Secretary of Energy for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, with the Department of Energy.
You may participate by either attending at one of the host firm seminar locations around the country, or by conference call. There is a $20 registration fee.

- David Adams

Ethanol from cattle feed?

We have recently warned readers of recent investor scams by companies hoping to cash in on the boom in alternative energies.

Well, here's one company that does appear to have real potential, along with real science: Dyadic International. The Fueling Station visited the company recently to take a look for ourselves. (click here for story in the St Petersburg Times)

Last week Dyadic scientist Marco Baez, gave a presentation a the International Distillers Grains Conference (IDGC) in Minneapolis. In it he discusses the company's progress in developing enzymes to increase the efficiency in producing ethanol from corn. Dyadic believes that there is potential to increase the productivity of the corn ethanol manufacturing process by 10 to 20% by extracting fermentable sugars from Dried Distillers Grains. DDG are leftovers, or mash, from the corn-to-ethanol distilling process and are sold a feed for the cattle and poultry industry. They are also high in sugars which can also be extracted for making ethanol.

Dyadic is one of a number of companies that is chasing ways to make ethanol from other plant material, besides traditional food crops such as corn and sugar cane. These new methods, known as lignocellulosic ethanol, promise to dramatically increase the potential for ethanol production.

Dyadic has teamed up with scientists at the prestigious Scripps Research Institute to explore the energy producing potential of a Russian fungus, known as C1. Dyadic CEO, Mark Emalfarb, beleives C1 could provide commercially viable ways to produce cellulosic ethanol from switchgrass to wood pulp, and even municipal waste. His company already has clients in the wood pulp industry.

“The whole world is going to go to bio-based products and we are going to be the razor blades of this industry,” says Emalfarb.

Click here to view Dr Baez's presentation.
Click here for press release from Dyadic.

- David Adams

Oil spill clean up continues in Tampa Bay

Cleanup efforts continued Tuesday to clear 900 gallons of oil that spilled into Tampa Bay earlier this  week. The oil apparently escaped from a tiny break in the 12 inch pipe that leads from the Port Manatee terminal to a set of storage tanks, according to Florida Power & Light.
About 500 gallons of oil was contained Monday and another 130 gallons on Tuesday.
"Today was a good day," FP&L spokesman, Mayco Villafana, told The Fueling Station. "We are about two-thirds of the way."
The causes of the leak are under investigation. So far there have been no reports of injuries to marine life.

Click here for an Associated Press report on clean up effort.

Rapier-like insight on oil prices. A must read!

Like many others, I have been trying to work out what's going on with oil prices. I see they crept back up again yesterday. There are lots of suspicions that prices are being manipulated by the oil industry to try and stymie investor interest in bio-fuels, as well as helping out Republicans in the November elections.
So, I was grateful when my editor at the St Petersburg Times alerted me to Robert Rapier, an aptly-named fellow blogger in Montana who seems to know how to cut through all the ill-informed opinion that is out there. Rapier is well-qualified to do so. He is a chemical engineer employed in the oil industry, but also confesses on his blog, r-squared to be "passionate about alternative energy."
Rapier warns that most people don't understand how oil and gas are priced. Due to his own oil company employment, he recommends reading  Jerome a Paris at Daily Kos who has written an essay explaining why gas prices are going down at the moment: There is NO manipulation of gas prices. An explanation.
Apparently, it's all about seasonal issues and the transition to winter blends. Rapier points out that gas prices rose in 2004 right up to the election, and dropped just afterwards! Basically, a lot of people bet that this summer would see the same problems as last year when supply was horribly disrupted by the hurricane season. In the end it didn't happen - at least not yet! Rapier says there's been a bit more production from refiners, coupled with less demand than expected.
The bottom line, he writes: "Does big oil support Republicans? 100%. Do they have the stroke to make gas jump up and down like a yo-yo to play with electoral politics, nope."

As if to prove his objective line of thought, Rapier goes on to propose a dialogue on raising the gas tax. He has written a short essay for The Oil Drum titled Let’s Talk Gas Tax.
Rapier says we need to raise the gas tax in order to spur conservation and stretch our oil supplies. Revenues would be given back to consumers in the form of tax credits, with some portion going to support mass transit and perhaps rebates for fuel efficient cars.

We recommend readers of The Fueling Station visit Rapier's blog, r-squared, to voice their opinions.

- David Adams

Bloggers unveil alleged ethanol scam

Last week we brought you news of an alleged energy scam in California involving a businessman who raised $10 million from investors for an apparently fictitious manure-to-biogas project. We added our voices to those warning that all that glitters isn't necessarily gold in the fast-evolving era of alternative energy technologies.

Our attention has now been drawn to another company with questionable ethics - Xethanol Corp. According to our fellow bloggers at Sharesleuth.com, Xethanol bills itself as a biotechnology-driven ethanol company that can turn wood chips, corn stalks and paper sludge into cheap alternative fuel.

But a Sharesleuth.com investigation took a detailed look at the history of the company and the people behind it. The investigation found no evidence that Xethanol has produced significant quantities of ethanol from those raw materials. In fact, what it found was a history of apparent "corporate misdirection." Among the names of shareholders whose names appeared in the company’s SEC filings were no fewer than eight current or former stock brokers who have been the subjects of disciplinary actions by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the National Association of Securities Dealers or other regulatory bodies.

One financial analysts cited by Sharesleuth.com suugests that Xenothol went public in a bid to "exploit investor excitement about ethanol." Like any new industry attracting major investment appetite, unscrupulous businessmen will inevitably try and jump on board. Understanding the difference between viable technology and clever cons is one of the major challenges ahead if alternative energies are to take off. "There's penicillin out there, and there's snake oil too," one energy expert told me the other day.

Click here to read the investigation by Sharesleuth.com

Nuke plant safety in dispute

A safety group is reporting that prolonged shutdowns at US power plants show a gradual erosion of safety standards.
The study has implications for companies considering new reactors, according to Tuesday's St Petersburg Times.
The analysis by David Lochbaum, a nuclear engineer at the Union of Concerned Scientists, found that one in three of all reactors licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission had suffered major shutdowns. That includes all three reactors in Florida.
"Nuclear power is clearly not safe enough when so many reactors have to be shut down for a year or more before they can be restarted," writes Lochbaum, a longtime adversary of the nuclear industry. "Extended outages are prima facie evidence of how far safety margins have been allowed to erode, making nuclear power more dangerous and costly than necessary."

Click here to read the St Petersburg Times story by William R. Levesque

- David Adams

FP&L oil spill update

The Miami Herald reports today that the FP&L oil spill at Port Manatee could take several days to clean up. It's impact on the environment is still unclear.

Click here to read the Miami Herald report.

Oil spill at FP&L power plant

The Palm Beach Post reported today that more than 900 gallons of fuel oil has spilled from one of the units at Florida Power & Light Co.'s Manatee power plant on the state's west coast.

Apparently the oil has been contained and has not gotten into any wetlands, according to the Coast Guard, although crews are still searching for any "patches" of oil that remain floating on the water.It is unclear at this time what caused the spill.
Advocates of alternative energy point out that leaks of ethanol would be potentially far less harmfull than oil. "You would basically just have a lot of very drunk fish," one ethanol supporter told The Fueling Station. 

Click here for the full story.

- David Adams

The ethanol story. What is real and what is not.

New York Times op-ed writer and three-time Pulitzer Prize winner, Thomas Friedman, recently visited Brazil to learn more about that country's ethanol program, which is the envy of the rest of the world.

Friedman says he went to Brazil because he wanted to know "what is real and what is not in the ethanol story."

His answer: "not only is ethanol for real, but we have not even begun to tap its full potential."

Due to restrictions on reproducing certain 'select' stories in New York Times, we cannot link you to a copy of Friedman's article.

But, we can do better! Since I have been down the same road of inquiry as Friedman allow me to recommend the following links to two stories I wrote in the St Petersburg Times a year ago. It seems Friedman and I came to very similar conclusions:

1./ Ethanol: Is it the answer? (published Oct 17 2005)
 2./ Struggling over sugar (published Nov 9 2005)

Friedman asked the experts in Brazil what they thought the US should do about ethanol. Here's the answer they gave:
"Require U.S. oil companies to provide ethanol fuel pumps at all their gas stations, require U.S. auto companies to make all their new cars flex-fuel and improve mileage standards, and get rid of the crazy 54-cent tariff we’ve imposed on imported sugar ethanol (to protect our farmers). And then let the market work."

- David Adams

GM's awesome Hy-Wire fuel cell car

Wow!!

Click here to see a video of a test drive of GM's new $10 million hydrogen fuel cell car.

Click here for GM's Hy-Wire's specs, including limited 80 mile range.

- David Adams

Europe takes lead in C02 offsets

We recently wrote about two online travel companies, Travelocity and Expedia, offering customers concerned with global warming a way to offset the "carbon footprint" they create while zooming around the world.

Now we learn that some larger companies are taking it upon themselves to pay for their CO2 emissions in the form of offsets, or investments in nonpulluting energy projects. The New York Times reports that Europe's biggest bank, HSBC, will pay $310,000 this year in business travel offsets, plus another $3 million to achive "carbon neutrality."

European companies, it seems, is far more into the idea that US firms. Avis Europe offers clients the option to make a rental car carbon neutral. But Avis in the US says it has no such plans. British Airways is the only major airline with a offset option available on its website. Nike does have its own offset trust with Delta Air and Northwest Airlines.
Otherwise, businesses can seek advice from companies specializing in carbon neutral strategies, such as CarbonNeutral, Climate Trust.

Calculate your carbon footprint at CarbonCounter.org

To read the New York Times article click here:

- David Adams

Britain's Lib-Dems vote for 'Green Tax Switch.'

Britain's Liberal Democrat leader, Sir Menzies Campbell, has launched a national campaign at the party's annual conference with a series of tax proposals designed to shift the tax burden from hard working people and on to the polluter.

Campbell called his 'Green Tax Switch' campaign the most radical ever from any major UK political party. The party is due to vote on the proposal later this week. The plan includes the following:

* increase Bri