Turning Trash Into Gas

Or “Turning Rubbish Into Petrol” for those in the UK. Recently, Coskata Inc., a leading developer of alternative bio-fuels, announced the successful start-up of its semi-commercial flex-ethanol facility.

Unlike other technologies and facilities that often rely on one primary source of feedstock, the company’s flex ethanol facility will be producing ethanol from numerous sources, including wood biomass, agricultural waste, construction waste and even household garbage. In addition, their patented microorganisms and bioreactor designs will produce ethanol for the same as, and in some cases less than, the cost of producing a gallon of gasoline. This new technology also reduces CO2 emissions up to 96 percent compared to gasoline.

Flex Fuel vehicles that can run on gas, E85 or a combination of both, are already available from Chevrolet, Ford, Dodge and GMC. GM has built 5 million of these vehicles to date, watch the video below to learn more.

Detroit Auto Show 2009 – A Sign Of The Times

Today we welcome a guest post by Ron Doron, Sr. Test Drive Editor for The Drivers Seat.TV, who attended the North American International Auto Show in partnership with Life Goggles.

The North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) is the premier stage for launching new automobiles and concepts destined for American roads. The 2009 NAIAS was no different from past shows, except that some key players like Nissan and Mitsubishi were absent, America is in the midst of the worst economic downturn since the great depression, and new car and truck sales have plummeted to a 30-year low.

Still, the show must go on, and during the past three years, Detroit (and other shows) have been experiencing a new trend that features cars that are green and ones that don’t cost a lot of green. This may be a sign that automotive companies are listening and realizing that American consumers care about the environment as well as their budgets.

Ford made the first big green announcement with a promise to deliver an electric strategy consisting of three types of electrified vehicles by 2012– Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV), Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV). The BEV is an all-electric vehicle that when fully charged, has a range of 80-100 miles. HEVs consist of vehicles like the Prius that can run on pure electric, pure petroleum, or a combination of both. Expect the next generation of Ford HEVs by 2011. And last but not least, the PHEV is an electric car that has a gasoline-powered generator to charge the electric motor (if needed), but does not actually power the vehicle itself. Clearly this move by Ford is in direct response to the most newsworthy PHEV to date, the Chevy Volt which is expected in showrooms by Fall of 2010, two years ahead of Ford’s expected launch date.

Ford didn’t stop there as it followed up on its 2008 NAIAS news and rolled out the 2010 Flex Ecoboost, the first production vehicle to utilize the Ecoboost technology. This Flex will be powered by an Ecoboosted 3.5-liter V6 that yields 22MPG, but manages to deliver V8 performance with its 355 horses. The Flex joins America’s most fuel-efficient mid-sized sedan, the 41 MPG, 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid. This was clearly Ford’s show which also took Truck of the Year honors with the all-new F150.

The journey through the Detroit Auto Show continues with the most significant green car on the planet, the third generation Toyota Prius. The all-new 2010 Prius is bigger, sleeker, and burns less fuel. In fact, at 50 MPG it’s the most fuel-efficient car in America and with a coefficient of drag of 0.25, it’s also the most aerodynamic car in America.

Not to be outdone, Toyota’s luxury division, Lexus, unveiled the HS250h compact, near luxury, hybrid sedan. Essentially, this is a Prius for the luxury market and a vehicle that makes sense for those who want the greenness of a Prius combined with the luxury of the Lexus brand. Styling is a bit odd. Almost Corolla meets Fusion, but we’re confident Lexus will have little trouble selling every one they manufacture.

It has been rumored that General Motors may eliminate some brands in order to improve its chance at a viable future. Brands like Hummer, Pontiac, GMC, Saturn, and SAAB received no attention in Detroit, while Chevy, Cadillac, and Buick (the three brands that may lead the New GM) were front and center.

Buick may not be a significant brand in the U.S., but in emerging markets like China, it’s considered a status vehicle. GM unveiled the al-new Buick Lacrosse which competes directly with the Nissan Maxima and Lexus ES350.

Cadillac unveiled the SRX crossover and CTS SportsWagon, two attractive luxury people movers that provide a glimpse into the future of the segment. The new SRX is a sleek crossover that should give the Lexus RX some competition. The CTS SportWagon is more of a true wagon or estate which is also likely to be sold in Europe where this segment is quite popular. But the star of the GM exhibit – and perhaps the entire show – was the Cadillac Converj. This concept coupe looks like it was designed by Lamborghini even though it is a plug-in hybrid.

Chevrolet, the brand that will carry the bulk of the load for GM, also made significant product announcements. The Chevy Equinox has been completely redesigned to become the most attractive compact crossover in America. It’s quite evolutionary with its aggressive styling, much-improved interior, and an inline-4 that delivers 30 MPG. There were some concepts as well, but the Chevy Spark is the most important one. This is a micro-car that rivals the popular Smart car, but with sporty styling and seating for four.

Clearly struggling, Chrysler had little to say about its future or make any significant product announcements. They did however roll out the 200C concept, a plug-in hybrid that is based on a shortened 300C platform and with a driving range of 100 miles. This four-door sedan is actually quite appealing and might offer a glimpse into the next Sebring…..if Chrysler survives that long.

Audi made it official by confirming plans to bring the A3 2.0TDI to the U.S. It only makes sense since the VW Jetta TDI, which shares the same technology, has been quite successful since its U.S. debut in September, 2008. Clean diesel still offers Americans a viable, non-electric solution, but is plagued with perception problems from the seventies and eighties. Hopefully Americans can forgive and forget as more of these clean diesels continue to trickle into showrooms. Audi also rolled out the R8 5.2, a V-10 version of the RB with over 525 hp. But the star of Audi’s exhibit was the SportBack Concept, a four-dour coupe that may offer a glimpse into the upcoming A7 Coupe.

In the automotive industry, two years is an eternity, but that’s when Chinese car manufacturer BYD (which is an acronym for Build Your Dreams) plans to start selling cars in America. And when it does, it will be launching with green technology including an all-electric vehicle with the claim of a 250-mile range. They also have a few hybrid vehicles in their lineup, but it’s too early speculate on what will actually arrive here by 2011. Since BYD’s background is in consumer electronics, it is safe to say they will want to leverage their competitive advantage.

There were no newsworthy announcements from Honda, Hyundai, and Mercedes, although the Hyundai Genesis did win the North American Car Of The Year. Other brands like Nissan, Infiniti, Mitsubishi, and Suzuki chose to stay home, to either make a statement or simply save money.

Interview with GM Chairman Rick Wagoner

As previously mentioned, as a guest of GM we had excellent access to top level GM executives – and you don’t get any more top level than GM Chairman Rick Wagoner.

A group of online journalists had nearly an hour where we asked questions on several topics from the such as the Coskata announcement, Hummer’s future, gas prices and Tata Motors’ Nano. If you just want to watch the video (courtesy of Matt Kelly’s excellent Next Gear Show Green), then it’s embedded below and is nearly an hour long. I’ve paraphrased and grouped some of the discussion below.

Q: Why get into the fuel business with the Coskata ethanol announcement?
A: We’re big believers in ethanol. It’s a broad based partnership that is not about profit making, it’s about bringing forward a fundamental change in refueling infrastructure which GM believes is necessary. Demand for oil is growing by 2.5m barrels a year. Low fuel prices and increased miles driven has massively increased oil use despite cars being 2 times more efficient than 40 years ago. The government pass legislation to reduce oil use but give massive subsidies to the oil industry. Need to get subsidies and incentives to the ethanol industry so consumers can use it more. China has less polluting vehicles, not because of better technology but of stronger vehicle emissions regulations.

Q: With current car payments at the limit of people’s affordability, what is the impact of the new environmental measures?
A: The two-mode hybrid is currently very expensive, but not sure how low we can get the “cost penalty” compared to the combustion engine. Fuel cells have the long-term potential to be low cost. GM are working hard on keeping resale value of vehicles high (less fleet sales) and not over-financing customers.

Q: The Chevy Volt is not even being produced but is being advertised. Toyota want to release a competitor – so what are your thoughts on that?

A: Chevy Volt is on the fastest pace possible. It will be a public risk, but it’s the right risk for this time, and the Toyota announcement makes me think GM are on the right track. All battery power is not the primary focus as our experience with the EV-1 showed that range was very important.

Alternative fuel options are an “inevitable and critical opportunity for the auto industry”. GM want to have the global standard of most sophisticated hybrid which they think they have with the two-mode, although it is expensive at the moment. Watch the full interview below.

Green Cars and Green Claims – Part 1

This is part one of a three-part series. Follow this link for all Detroit Auto Show 2008 articles.

At the Detroit Auto Show I’ve seen many claims and examples of cleaner vehicles and alternative fuel vehicles. As a guest of GM I had the closest look at their vehicles, but there were plenty of unveilings and new technologies from most auto manufacturers. In this three-part series I’ll take a look at some of the major green announcements and vehicles from the show.

GM

Most of GM’s brands had a green announcement in one sort or another, even Hummer. Under their banner of “gas friendly to gas free”, GM unveiled five different programs to reduce gasoline usage. These were:

- Fuel efficiency
- Ethanol E85 (see my Coskata announcement)
- Hybrid
- Electric (such as the Chevy Volt)
- Fuel cell (hydrogen)

In fact, most of the talk with any GM employee turned to green issues whether in press conferences, group interviews or one-on-one talks. The wind seems to have truly shifted firmly in the belief that in order to sell more cars in the future, the reliance on (mainly) foreign oil needs to be broken – see my interview with Bob Lutz, GM’s Vice Chairman.

Saturn extended their commitment to the Green Line of the Vue and Aura, positioning Saturn as the green brand for GM. The 2009 Vue Two mode hybrid uses a system that has been used in buses since 2003 in over 1,000 vehicles in 70 cities. Apparently it is 50% more fuel efficient than it’s non-hybrid version, and can get 500 miles on one tank. The engine turns off when idling, it uses electric only at low speed, and has seamless regenerative braking. They also showed their Flextreme concept vehicle that can drive for 30 miles on electric power only.
[Read more]

Bob Lutz GM Vice Chairman Interview

As a guest of GM at the Detroit Auto Show, I was fortunate enough to sit down with a small group of people (that gradually got larger the more we talked…) and speak with Bob Lutz, GM’s Vice Chairman.

Loved by some, criticised by others, Bob is quoted as saying a few years ago that hybrid cars were just a “marketing tool”. Having publicly admitted that was wrong a while ago, it was very interesting to hear his thoughts on the future of alternative fuel and alternative fuel vehicles.

Our video below is a short (~4 minutes) excerpt of the interview, where Bob talked about the reasons behind the Coskata announcement and the progress on the Chevy Volt.

In addition Bob talked about being involved in the Chevy Volt and hybrid programs at GM more than any others, the need for government intervention in the distribution infrastructure of ethanol and whilst the cost to produce ethanol could be ~$1 per gallon, once profit margins and taxes have been added it was more likely to be $2 per gallon. For more of the interview there are a few other links.

Firstly Clayton over at Gas 2.0 has a great transcript of part of our conversation, specifically around the ethanol and Coskata announcement.

You can find the full video here (over 20 minutes), from Matt Kelly’s excellent Next Gear Show Green. It’s honestly a fascinating watch and if you’re even only slightly interested in the auto industry, hearing the thoughts on the future of fuel directly from a high level executive is well worth your time.

For more info on the Chevy Volt, take a look at GM-Volt.

Keep tuned this week and next for more details on the Chevy Volt, green claims from the Auto Show and an interview with GM Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner.

Ethanol From Garbage?

In Detroit General Motors (GM) announced a deal with a small company called Coskata to produce ethanol for <$1 per gallon from virtually anything.

Currently ethanol is primarily corn or plant based, but that has its concerns with water usage. What Coskata have done is create a process that allows almost any material to be “turned into” ethanol. That means plastic, trash, wood, old tyres/tires, waste and so on can be used, just not glass or metal.

The great thing about this process is that it takes around 1 gallon of water to produce 1 gallon of ethanol. This compares to about 3 or 4 gallons of water for traditional corn/plant based ethanol that use cellulosic production. They also say they do not use genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the production, just “carefully selected ones”. The result is 97% ethanol with the rest being water. The production and use of this ethanol apparently emits 84% less greenhouse gases than gasoline.

Ethanol also has it’s advantages over other alternative fuels for several reasons:
- It’s suitable for the current refuelling structure (i.e. gas/petrol stations).
- It doesn’t ned to be imported (in the US), cutting reliance on other countries and reducing the environmental impact of drilling, processing and shipping oil.
- It doesn’t require a change in customer behaviour, you can fill up your vehicle in a similar fashion that you do now.

Currently only 1% of the US’s 170,000 gas stations offer ethanol, but by the end of 2008 GM will have 25 co-called “flex-fuel” models and potentially 50% of new GM vehicles could be capable of running on ethanol.

More information will be disclosed in my report on my (small group) interview with Bob Lutz, GM’s Vice Chairman that will be posted in a day or two.