Handwriting on the wall for corn-based ethanol
When will subsidies end?
Date: 27-Apr-09
"California Rule Could End Ethanol's Honeymoon"
Author: Timothy Gardner
Reuters via Planet Ark
NEW YORK - California's newly adopted low-carbon fuel standard may mark the beginning of the end of ethanol's coveted status as the sole US alternative motor fuel.
The US state with the most cars late on Thursday approved the world's first-ever regulations to slash emissions of planet-warming carbon dioxide from vehicle fuels.
The ruling, which will be subject to further studies, will not kill the ethanol industry. But it sets the bar higher for cleaner development of corn ethanol, which enjoyed an investment boost over the last few years thanks to generous federal incentives and mandates calling for increasing amounts of the fuel to be blended into gasoline.
The measure also sets the stage for emerging alternative fuels -- such as cars that run on compressed natural gas and electric vehicles like plug-in hybrids that run on both gasoline and rechargeable batteries -- to compete with second-generation ethanol.
That fuel, known as cellulosic ethanol, is expected to be made in commercial amounts from non-food feedstocks like switchgrass and fast-growing trees.
"The ruling is the first sign that the ethanol industry could be brought out of its honeymoon phase," said Sander Cohan, an alternative motor fuels analyst with Energy Security Analysis Inc in Boston.
(More here.)
Date: 27-Apr-09
"California Rule Could End Ethanol's Honeymoon"
Author: Timothy Gardner
Reuters via Planet Ark
NEW YORK - California's newly adopted low-carbon fuel standard may mark the beginning of the end of ethanol's coveted status as the sole US alternative motor fuel.
The US state with the most cars late on Thursday approved the world's first-ever regulations to slash emissions of planet-warming carbon dioxide from vehicle fuels.
The ruling, which will be subject to further studies, will not kill the ethanol industry. But it sets the bar higher for cleaner development of corn ethanol, which enjoyed an investment boost over the last few years thanks to generous federal incentives and mandates calling for increasing amounts of the fuel to be blended into gasoline.
The measure also sets the stage for emerging alternative fuels -- such as cars that run on compressed natural gas and electric vehicles like plug-in hybrids that run on both gasoline and rechargeable batteries -- to compete with second-generation ethanol.
That fuel, known as cellulosic ethanol, is expected to be made in commercial amounts from non-food feedstocks like switchgrass and fast-growing trees.
"The ruling is the first sign that the ethanol industry could be brought out of its honeymoon phase," said Sander Cohan, an alternative motor fuels analyst with Energy Security Analysis Inc in Boston.
(More here.)
Labels: ethanol
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1 Comments:
First, the problem is the lack of leadership ... look in Minnesota where Pawlenty at one time wanted to cut subsidies, but even with today's budget problems, cutting ethanol subsidies is protected by our politicians ... and last month Margaret Anderson Kelliher was a no show on a vote and issued a press release after the 2007 session taking credit for "reinstated full ethanol producer payments."
Second, also coming out of California is a study reported by San Jose Mercury Times that people could drive 80 percent farther if we converted those crops into electricity. An acre of switch grass could power a small SUV for 15,000 miles if converted into electricity, but 8,000 miles if turned into ethanol. Dimitri Stanich, spokesman for the California Air Resources Board, said "Any fuel that can reduce greenhouse gases and is more efficient is valuable," he said. "We foresee ethanol and electricity as a way to do both in California."
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