I am deeply involved in helping start up the ethanol/bio fuel industry here in Hungary. There are a number of unique factors that make Hungary an excellent place for the production of ethanol (in this case from corn) and in a later post on this thread I will elaborate on what we are trying to do However, I thought it might be interesting to hear what auto afficianados think of the developments in this field. I'll use this thread to post information that may be of interest and would welcome comments about the topic This first link is for an american site that talks about what is happening back home. Good source of general information http://www.ethanolacrossamerica.net This Swedish site provides a European perspective. Lot of interesting information; we are actually working with Saab/Scania as a potential investor. They like what we are trying to do on a number of fronts, but particulalrly becasue of the Flexi Fuel cars they build (we hope our company cars will be the new Flexi Fuel 9-5!) and the ethanol buses that are in wide use in Stockholm http://www.baff.info/english/ In additon to details on what we are doing, I will also post information from Brasil, whose industry is particulalry advanced
Some links regarding ethanol in Brasil http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0417-23.htm http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/31249/story.htm http://www.ethanol-gec.org/information/Brazilian_Ethanol_3-1-05.ppt I had an interesting chat with a Brasilian ethanol trader regarding the market; basically he and the government want Brasil to be the "Saudia Arabia of ethanol" and they are well on the way to becoming that! This Sunday, on CNN International's broadcast of Global Challenges, there was a segment on the Brasilain ethanol industry. It included interviews with farmers, scientists, motorists and executives at Ford and Volkswagen. When I find a transcript I will post it
Don't forget the possible cutting down of the Malaysian rain forests to make room for palm oil destined for biodiesel.
Well aware of that (and problems in Brasil that are similar). I wish to clearly state that this industry is not without problems nor is it a silver bullet; it is a positive step that can buy time for even better solutions to be developed for energy use in the transport sector. Some places it will work well, in others it will not be appropriate. Here in Hungary, agriculture is very very productive. Each year there is a massive surplus of corn. Currently, there are 4 million tons of corn here in Hungary in storage. Yields get better each year and the Hungarian government and the European Union must pay to store this crop in silos across the country. To give you an idea, we will use 1 million tons of corn a year to produce 120 million gallons of ethanol. 1 million tons of corn represents 10% of annual corn production here. In the case of Hungary, I always felt ethanol was more of an ag project than a green fuel project. It is a way to make a value added good out of an ag surplus here and also cut down on ag subsidies. Our project also can be viewed as a rural development scheme; the Ministry of Agricluture has stated our project would be responsible for 35,000 jobs in the agriculture sector This does not hold true everywhere and again wish to state that this is not a silver bullet. Rather it is appears to be a good solution for Hungary and Central Europe (and some other parts of the world) You are very correct in your statement; we believe what we are doing is different. I'll put some more project details up later but welcome your comments and criticisms.
Biofuels should be viewed as piece in an overall solution rather then an end all solution.we simply cannot commit the resources (land,food based oils etc) towards widespread energy consumption.Its reckless and will endanger affordable food prices and could lead to famine in some places where there shouldnt be. Dont get me wrong, Im all for biofuels and part of a group that is looking to start a Biodiesel concern in Northern Illinois. I personally think biodiesel should be utilized as a solution for some of the problems in the industrial sector, and do not think it is a good idea to use it for non-commerical type consumption.I believe for private auto's and individuals we need to find a different solution.One that will meet the needs of the individual user and has less impact on natural resources.Most people have little need for the power and torque that a diesel engine provides.But of course most people do want power under the hood, so right now the diesel option looks to be the favored in the near future.on the flip siode, heavy industry needs the power that a diesel engine provides.supply and demand always affects price .and first and foremost diesel should be affordable to heavy industry.as the wheels of commerce has an affect on the health and welfare of a nation. its a tricky balancing act, as the cost of biodiesel will go down if we get a demand (producing more lowers overall production cost) .but if there is to much demand the price will skyrocket and drive natural resources away from feeding people. as far as Ethanol, im not sold on it at all.in some places its a realistic option (namely brazil) but for most of the globe it is not.even in the american corn belt it is not that realistic of an option.it simply takes to much corn to produce a quality product that meets the efficiency of petrol based fuels.its a costly and in some peoples opinion wasteful energy option.