Spirits of Performance
April 1, 2008
Less than a week before this
magazine went to print, the journal Science released a report that said:
"Converting rainforests, peatlands, savannas, or grasslands to produce
food-based biofuels in Brazil, Southeast Asia, and the United States
creates
a ‘biofuel carbon debt’ by releasing 17 to 420 times more CO2 than the annual
greenhouse gas reductions these biofuels provide by displacing fossil fuels." In
other words, fuels like ethanol and biodiesel can only help the planet when the
manner in which they are produced results in less carbon being released into the
atmosphere, not more. Which is what happens when you cut down rainforests
(directly or indirectly) in order to plant corn or soybeans.
The blogosphere buzzed with the news, because the irony is too perfect: In humanity’s haste to convert vehicles to run on greener fuels, consumers may inadvertently be adding to the carbon-dioxide deficit and speeding global warming. It turns out that even if Americans are not cutting forests to produce biofuels, the people in third-world countries who rely on affordably priced corn from the U.S. will need to clear land in order to plant more food crops. Another potential problem is the heat required for the distillation process that produces biofuels. If that heat energy derives from coal or other carbon-emitting sources, the resulting clean fuel’s benefits can easily be negated. "The bottom line is that it’s become increasingly clear we can make biofuels in smart ways, and we can make them in really dumb ways," says Nathanael Greene, a senior policy analyst with the Natural Resources Defense Council.
"We need to be thinking about biofuels in a holistic way and minimize the negative impacts," Greene continues. "We need to look at the whole transportation system and change how we develop our communities, so we don’t have to hop in the car to get a quart of milk. And we need to improve our vehicles."
Heeding the call to develop cleaner personal transportation is Koenigsegg, the Swedish supercar manufacturer whose "Spirit of Performance" slogan has taken on a whole new meaning. As often happens, going green has its rewards. To capitalize on the fact that ethanol releases more energy than gasoline—resulting in increased engine power—Koenigsegg will equip six of its 20 aptly named Limited Edition cars to operate on flexible E85 fuel (which by law is available at every fuel station in Sweden). The CCXR model features a 5-liter twin supercharged engine, which boasts 1,018 hp, or 130 hp more than the standard CCX version. That translates into a higher top speed (which already tops 240 mph), and a €1.5 million sticker price (compared to €1,330,000 for the CCX).
Call it Scandinavian sensibility, but apart from Koenigsegg, Sweden offers many shining examples of how to make biofuel production a sustainable energy source. In the past 25 years, the country has nearly halved its dependency on foreign oil by producing biodiesel and ethanol using wood chips and waste from its forestry industry. Moreover, the Swedish government plans to wean itself completely from fossil fuels by the year 2020. Sweden has become so proficient at being efficient that alcohol confiscated at its airports is now recycled for fuel rather than being wastefully dumped down the drain.
Like many of those alcoholic beverages, ethanol is a simple grain alcohol—essentially moonshine for your car—fermented mostly from corn in the United States, sugarcane in Brazil, wood chips in Sweden, or feedstocks such as sugar beets and cassava. Henry Ford used 200-proof ethanol to power his early Model T, and for decades, ethanol has been blended with gasoline to boost octane and trim emissions. Small quantities go into 30 percent of the gasoline we buy. It’s also sold as E85, a mix of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline (the gas in E85 is only added to render fuel ethanol unfit for human consumption).
Running American cars on Midwestern corn rather than Middle Eastern crude certainly sounds enticing, especially when every car on the road can burn E85 with only minor, low-cost tweaks to their engines. Already, more than 6 million cars and trucks—the vast majority from Detroit’s automakers—are "flex fuel" models capable of running on either E85 or gasoline, a fact many owners don’t realize. Further, the Big Three have pledged to double annual production to around 2 million by 2010; this would equal 20 percent of their total U.S. production.
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