Posted: February 12, 2008

A new study suggests that today’s cars can run on liquid fuel that contains a lot more than the standard blend of 10% ethanol, adding to the momentum for a huge increase in global ethanol production that would fatten the bottom lines of leading producers and spur development of ethanol made from cellulose.

The study was conducted by the Minnesota Center for Automotive Research and the University of North Dakota Energy & Environmental Center, and was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and the American Coalition for Ethanol, a trade group.

In the study, four different make cars (three of them with standard engines, one with a flex-fuel engine designed to run on a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline) were tested on mixtures of more than 10% ethanol, leading researchers to conclude that the optimal blend of ethanol (in terms of providing better fuel economy than regular unleaded) in today’s standard cars is probably between 20% and 30%.

A new energy law in the U.S. calls for a five-fold increase in the blending of ethanol and other alternative fuels (to 36 billion gallons) by 2022, a goal considered unrealistic by many because it would divert too much land from food production (thereby raising food prices) and would cause too much environmental damage. Nevertheless, with global oil supplies increasingly constrained, and with energy security every nation’s concern, there may be no choice but to ratchet up ethanol production to help fuel the rapidly-rising number of cars on global highways. This most recent study makes that option even more attractive.

With corn-based ethanol the cause of so much concern, the study could provide further impetus to development of ethanol made from cellulose from forest, agricultural and municipal waste. Several companies are already reaching for that brass ring.