New Fuels: Part 1
Biofuels
HIGHLIGHTS
et set for a trip back to the future — Global Challenges’ recreation of a September day in 1925 when American automobile pioneer Henry Ford made a
prophetic comment to The New York Times. Ford, we know, invented the mass
production automobile assembly line. Off those lines rolled the first widely available car, Ford’s
Model T. Ford had fuel on his mind in that interview with The Times more than 70 years ago.
◆ Almost half of all
gasoline sold in the
United States contains a first-generation biofuel — ethanol made from corn.
“The fuel of the future is going to come from fruit like that sumac out by the road, or
from apples, weeds, sawdust — almost anything. There is fuel in every bit of vegetable
matter that can be fermented. There’s enough alcohol in one year’s yield of an acre of
potatoes to drive the machinery necessary to cultivate the fields for a hundred years.”
◆ Scientists are developing second-generation biofuels made
from non-food plant
materials such as
switchgrass and other
biomass.
Strange as it may seem, Henry Ford did not design the Model-T to run on gasoline. Ford
built the “Tin Lizzie” to putt along on today’s most popular biofuel — ethanol. Although
Ford lobbied for ethanol as the standard motor vehicle fuel, gasoline won out. In 1898,
Rudolph Diesel, the inventor of the diesel engine, demonstrated that his new engine ran just
fine on peanut oil. Now, it really is back to the future, as society rediscovers the virtues of
biofuels like ethanol from corn and diesel fuel made from plant oils.
◆ Sugars from biomass
can be converted into
gasoline additives
that have 40 percent
more energy per gallon than ethanol.
A Perfect Storm
A “perfect storm” of factors is forcing society to seek alternatives to gasoline and other fossil fuels. It includes sticker shock prices for gasoline and home heating oil. Concerns about
global climate change due to carbon dioxide release in smokestacks and tailpipes. Potential shortages of petroleum. And national security concerns about dependence on foreign
sources of oil.
In a two-part podcast, Global Challenges explores scientific advances toward providing
us with new fuels. First, we will look at biofuels, the most familiar kind of alternative fuel.
Biofuels already are a reality and in wide use. Most of us fill it up with gasoline that contains
a biofuel — Henry Ford’s biofuel, ethanol made from corn. In Part 2, we will look into the
future, when scientific advances may allow us to fill it up with water, sunlight, and other new
fuels that may seem straight out of science fiction
◆ Biofuels are just one
part of a comprehensive solution to our
energy problems that
includes conservation
and greater energy
efficiency.
Brewing Up Fuels
So exactly what are biofuels? Biofuels are combustible substances made from plants.
DiD YOU KNOW?
Biofuels are not new. Henry Ford designed the “Tin Lizzie” to run on alcohol, while
Rudolph Diesel’s engine could run on peanut oil.
New fuels must be liquid fuels to power the 230 million motor vehicles on today’s
roads.
There are many di erent types of biofuels, including ethanol, biodiesel, green
gasoline, and designer hydrocarbons.
In 2007, the United States consumed 6. 5 billion gallons of ethanol, which were mixed
into the domestic supply of 142 billion gallons of gasoline.
