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November 23, 2007
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Alabama And E-85
by Phillip Ohnemus
CBS 42 News
2007-11-23 10:10:00.0
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E-85! It's the alternative fuel that's catching national attention as the answer to the nations dependence on foreign oil.
Despite a growing demand for E85 in Alabama, there are no public accessible E-85 stations to be found.
But thanks to some new age thinking that could all change.
And that thinking starts with local farmers Ronnie Holladay in Lowndes County.
Holladay is a cotton man and for the last 40 years his fields have supported the king of southern crops.
But this year you'll be hard pressed to find a sea of white at Holladay Farms.
That's because there's a new king... Corn is a golden opportunity and one Alabama farmers like Holladay say is their future. "Prices are higher now than they have been due in part to ethanol production, and that's a bright spot for us."
Alabama farmers have seen mid-west farms make a killing in the ethanol market. And now they to want cash in themselves as drivers demand relief from escalating fuel costs tied to foreign oil.
And that's where the Alabama Clean Fuels Coalition comes in.
Executive Director Mark Bentley says Alabama is just one of three states in the country that doesn't have access right now to E-85.
But Bentley adds our state is the best position to expand into ethanol production.
Already his group has secured a federal grant to build six public E-85 fueling stations along Interstate 65.
It’s a project he says could be completed by the end of the decade.
But to help expand on that number Bentley says Alabama needs to build E-85 refineries.
And that would be very good for the Alabama farmer.
Ronnie Holladay says he knows his colleagues are ready to go to work. "We hope demand grows. If the demand is there and the farmer is paid for his efforts I'll guarantee you the American farmer can produce all we need to produce to generate ethanol plants."
But there's a problem! Regardless of how hard farmers like Holladay work, some experts like Phillip Wiedmeyer say they'll never be able to replace the American dependence on foreign oil with corn alone.
"If we took every available acre for corn production in the United States we can probably ultimately do about 15 billion gallons in a year and that's about 10-percent of u-s gasoline sales."
It’s a problem that has drawn the attention of some keen minds at Auburn University. These men of science have a vision for the future of fuel that has nothing to do with corn.
Dr. David Bransby has addressed the issue with President George W. Bush twice about the potential for bio-mass.
Bransby believes bio-mass is a better solution for the fuel crisis than E-85 because it doesn’t suffer from the same flaws associated with the switch to E-85.
Bransby says E-85 is a poor solution because it has 5 fundamental weaknesses.
First, Bransby points to energy output. E-85 contains just two-thirds the energy of traditional gasoline and that means lower mileage per gallon. "If gasoline is three dollars a gallon, an equal price for ethanol would be two."
Bransby also says E-85 means gas stations have to install special pumps. E-85 will only work in modern flex fuel vehicles, and that means older cars cannot benefit.
And finally ethanol is expensive to move because it has to be transported by truck or train as opposed to moving the fuel by pipeline.
Those shortcomings would mean the nation would have to invest trillions of dollars to become e-85 compliant.
And that's why Auburn University is working to develop an E-85 alternative, called cellulosic, that will work for everyone.
| Video Extra |
| Dr. Bransby explains more. Click here. |
Bransby explains, "The technology is out there that can produce regular gasoline and diesel. Most people are not aware of that."
And what's amazing is where the cellulosic bio-mass comes from: wood, switch grass, garbage, and even old tires can be transformed into a usable fuel that will power any diesel or unleaded fuel vehicle.
"What we haven't got is the technology that is up and running yet that can do this,” Says Bransby, “But I think we are close. I think in the next two to three years max we are going to see the first commercial plants out there doing this on an economically competitive basis."
Auburn University is working to make those plants a reality. Bransby says all it will take to make bio-mass work is the kind of support that is right now centered on E-85. "We can move fast. Right now there's something like 70 to 80 new corn to ethanol plants being constructed at one time."
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