GM Hearts Ethanol. Still.

Robert Farago
by Robert Farago

“We’re placing a high priority on biofuels right now.” Yeah, right. “Hey guys, how’s that congressional viability plan coming? Shhh. We’re working on biofuels.” The man shilling for last year’s green queen is GM’s vice president of research and development. Lest we forget, Laurence Fishburne—sorry, Larry Burns—was The General’s main eco-warrior a little over a year ago. That’s when GM decided to squander some its precious pre-bailout bucks on buying a big piece of a cellulosic ethanol start-up named Coskata. Hyperbole is a dish best served cold. Looking back . . . USA Today: “General Motors says it is investing in a fledgling company that claims its secret process could be able to make ethanol from waste in large quantity as soon as 2010 for $1 a gallon or less, half the cost of making gasoline.” Just out of curiosity, anyone want to guess how much GM plowed into this turkey?

GM refused to say at the time. [You may also remember a dodgy real estate deal at the same time.] And we still don’t know. But I do remember GM Car Czar Maximum Bob Lutz’ infamous excretory observation. “They put a bunch of bacteria in there that basically just eat and poop, eat and poop.” [The link has some great Luztervations].

Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, Mr. Burns’ most recent sop to the ethanol lobby.

“Our auto industry is at a critical juncture,” Burns told the Kansas City Star (or wrote in a press release, I’m not exactly sure which). “But we have to address major societal issues such as energy.”

So we wouldn’t do it if we didn’t have to, or we would do it better if we could, or what? Enough of Larry. I just love the corn grower’s effect on local media. Sometimes, the stuff just parses itself.

Economics remain a key issue in biofuels success.

Cellulosic ethanol was estimated by the study to be competitive with gasoline when oil prices top $90 a barrel. Growth in biofuels would require protection from lower petroleum prices, such as tax credits and loan guarantees, especially while production is ramped up.

What success? Oh, you mean potential success. And since when is economics NOT a key to a product’s success. Oh wait. Never mind. With GM giving biofuels such a high priority, it’s only a matter of time before everyone forgets all about it. Once our fiscally responsible federal government cancels that silly, expensive renewable fuels mandate, we’ll be on to something more sensible, self-sustaining and environmentally-friendly. Oh wait . . . .

Robert Farago
Robert Farago

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  • Anonymous Anonymous on Feb 12, 2009

    I think more than half the corn in the world is grown in the US and the US produces more ethanol than Brazil thanks to the billions in subsidies showered on ethanol. Then if you build ethanol cars you get a break on the CAFE rules. The government gets what they want and you better play along if you want to do business.

  • Cmcmail Cmcmail on Feb 16, 2009

    That "peak oil" talk started in the early eighties, "only 10 years left so get ready for an oiless 21st century!" Much like a paperless office and Y2K "end of days" scenario it didn't happen and it likely won't happen for a long time. The petroleum experts can't even agree where oil comes from (except that dinosaurs had nothing to do with it).Much less can they say with any certainty how much is left. There are 10 times the known reserves today, than there was in 1980, we are consuming more and it is still the most practical and cost efficient method of fueling our transport needs. As for electric storage, people have been trying to improve batteries for 100 years, Edison would still recognize our newest batteries. Most of the electric prototypes run on laptop batteries, think about that, how often do they let you down?, would you like to be stuck in traffic when it happens? Now for a little math, 1 kWh= 3.6 Megajoules = ~10 cents. 1 liter of regular gas = 36 Megajoules = 70 cents or less. Battery chargers are at best 80% efficient. It will cost $1.30 or more to replace a liter of gas and take 6 hour or more per liter equivalent @ 120 volts and 15 amps (household power). To get the energy in 50 liters of gas it would take nearly a week to charge versus 3 minutes at the pump. Next, we don't have the excess grid capacity to deal with an electric car wave. For gods sake don't trust me, check it out and do your own math. See if Al Gore ever suggests checking his math. Have fun with figures!

  • MaintenanceCosts It's not a Benz or a Jag / it's a 5-0 with a rag /And I don't wanna brag / but I could never be stag
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  • CanadaCraig I would like for this anniversary special to be a bare-bones Plain-Jane model offered in Dynasty Green and Vintage Burgundy.
  • ToolGuy Ford is good at drifting all right... 😉
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