Biofuel News Digest - January 26

Get ready for the President's State of the Union speech next week. In it, he will talk about expanding biofuel production and use. As I have said many times, governments will be a player in this field but not the prime mover. This is private enterprise which sees many advantages in a biofuel economy versus one dependent on foriegn oil. In today's news digest:

Ford Looking to Combine Hybrid Technology with Ethanol
In an interesting twist, Ford is introducing a concept car which combines hybrid and E85 ethanol. The article doesn't cite what type of fuel economy to expect but whatever it is, it likely to be better that what's currently available in an SUV and it will be cleaner and domestically produced. This is still at the "concept" phase so don't expect to see one in a showroom anytime soon.

GM Plans Marketing Initiative on E85 Ready Vehicles
The Flexible Fuel Vehicle or FFV is designed to run on gasoline, Ethanol blend or Methanol blend. The engines are equiped with sensors that allow them to adjust the fuel injection depending on what type of fuel it has. Also the hoses and other internal engine components can withstand the chemical properties of these biofuels which older engines can not. GM's marketing drive is going to highlight this type of engine to the American consumer. "They might even be driving a FlexFuel capable vehicle today and not even know about it," said one of GM's vice presidents.

Colorado May Pass Mandate on Biodiesel
Looking down the treacherous path blazed by Minnesota, Colorado's Senate Transportation Committee passed recommended a bill that would mandate use of B20 biodiesel when the price is only ten cents more per gallon than regualr diesel. IOd's take on mandates is that they disrupt the natural workings of the marketplace. While it would be great if a big state like Colorado went to B20, if it backfires it could be really bad.