DetNews.com, MI
04-07-06
Energy chief pushes ethanol
Ultimately, electric cars and hydrogen cells will be answer to nation's power
problems, says U.S. Secretary Bodman.
Nick Bunkley / The Detroit News
DETROIT -- Ethanol is the most promising short-term solution to Americans'
foreign oil addiction, U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman said Thursday.
odman called on automakers to make more vehicles capable of running on E85,
a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. For the 2006 model year,
about 700,000 so-called "flex-fuel" vehicles were produced.
He also charged ethanol refiners and oil companies with expanding the
availability of E85 and finding cheaper ways to produce it.
Currently about 600 gas stations across the country sell E85. In Metro Detroit,
the fuel is available at Citgos in Southfield and Dearborn Heights and a Sunoco
in northwest Detroit.
t should be our common goal that E85 become a nationwide fueling option,"
Bodman said. "In the coming days, I will be asking that we do more to make
consumers aware of the flex-fuel option both when they are considering a new
car purchase and for existing owners of flex-fuel vehicles."
Ultimately, Bodman said, electric cars and hydrogen fuel cells are the answer to
the country's energy problems. Hydrogen produces more energy than other fuels
but no harmful emissions.
eneral Motors Corp. scientist Candace Wheeler said no single alternative fuel will
end the nation's dependence on foreign oil, since the United States uses 140
billion gallons of fuel a year.
"It's going to take a number of different fuels," Wheeler said.
Over the next three years, the federal government plans to award $50 million
worth of grants to universities, national laboratories and private companies
researching hydrogen. The program, aimed at developing vehicles that run can
more than 300 miles on a single fill-up of hydrogen, furthers the Bush
administration's goal of commercializing fuel cells by 2020.
If hydrogen is widely used by 2040, the United States would reduce its daily oil
consumption by 11 million barrels a day.
But Americans shouldn't wait until fuel cells are viable to start weaning
themselves off gasoline, Bodman said. He mentioned clean diesel and hybrid
technology as positive steps but spent much of his speech at the Society of
Automotive Engineers World Congress talking up ethanol.
Thirty-three ethanol plants are under construction, Bodman said, and nine of the
97 existing facilities are expanding. When completed, the projects will increase
nationwide output by 40 percent.
In addition to production capacity, the use of ethanol is being hindered by its
price. Most ethanol is made from corn, and corn prices have risen because about
14 percent of the nation's crop is used to make ethanol.
As a result, E85 costs about the same as regular gasoline per gallon and most
drivers actually end up paying more to use E85 because it causes fuel economy
to decline. On Thursday, the Sunoco station on Eight Mile near Lahser was
selling E85 for $2.60 a gallon, 10 cents less than regular gas.
To drive prices lower, the Energy Department is encouraging ethanol producers
to use materials such as wood chips, wild grasses and corn cobs instead of corn.
Until the fuel is appealing financially, experts say the government likely will need
to provide incentives to encourage its use.
"The cost involved in the production of flexible fuel vehicles and the nonexistent
ethanol fuel infrastructure are the strong barriers currently prohibiting the
extension of automotive fleets to dual-fuel capacity," researchers at Iowa State
University wrote in a report this week. "In order to make alternative fuels
available to consumer the federal government must be prepared to aid
distributors in making E85 available."
Bodman said he's surprised the national economy has continued to create jobs
despite near-record gas prices and oil prices above $60 a barrel but worries that
continued increases will eventually stymie growth.
"Whether it's $95 or something north of that, I don't know," Bodman said. "I worry
about anything above current levels."
Detroit News staff writer David Shepardson contributed to this report. You can
reach Nick Bunkley at (313) 222-2293 or nbunkley@detnews.com.