Comments on: Finale for (bio)fuel financing free-for-alls? http://blog.marsdd.com/2008/02/05/finale-for-biofuel-financing-free-for-alls/ The blog about innovation and commercialization in Canada Sat, 30 Aug 2008 11:53:21 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: stockpromoter07 http://blog.marsdd.com/2008/02/05/finale-for-biofuel-financing-free-for-alls/#comment-41256 stockpromoter07 Tue, 15 Apr 2008 18:52:27 +0000 http://blog.marsdd.com/2008/02/05/finale-for-biofuel-financing-free-for-alls/#comment-41256 We found an interesting article about the problems with Ethanol on ConsumerReports.org: http://blogs.consumerreports.org/cars/2008/03/ethanol-e85.html "But there are some problems with increasing ethanol blends. Ethanol contains less energy than gasoline, so increasing the amount of ethanol in gasoline will likely result in lower fuel economy. Increasing standard fuel blends from zero to 10 percent ethanol, as is happening today, has little or no impact on fuel economy. In tests, the differences occur within the margin of error, about 0.5 percent. Further increasing ethanol levels to 20 percent reduces fuel economy between 1 and 3 percent, according to testing by the DOE and General Motors. Evaluations are underway to determine if E20 will burn effectively in today's engines without impacting reliability and longevity, and also assessing potential impact on fuel economy." We found an interesting article about the problems with Ethanol on ConsumerReports.org:

http://blogs.consumerreports.org/cars/2008/03/ethanol-e85.html

“But there are some problems with increasing ethanol blends. Ethanol contains less energy than gasoline, so increasing the amount of ethanol in gasoline will likely result in lower fuel economy. Increasing standard fuel blends from zero to 10 percent ethanol, as is happening today, has little or no impact on fuel economy. In tests, the differences occur within the margin of error, about 0.5 percent. Further increasing ethanol levels to 20 percent reduces fuel economy between 1 and 3 percent, according to testing by the DOE and General Motors. Evaluations are underway to determine if E20 will burn effectively in today’s engines without impacting reliability and longevity, and also assessing potential impact on fuel economy.”

]]> By: TheSUBWAY.com http://blog.marsdd.com/2008/02/05/finale-for-biofuel-financing-free-for-alls/#comment-39770 TheSUBWAY.com Fri, 04 Apr 2008 15:23:57 +0000 http://blog.marsdd.com/2008/02/05/finale-for-biofuel-financing-free-for-alls/#comment-39770 It's good to hear BP & GM talk about alternative fuels, but 50 years to implement is too long. http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/05/news/companies/bigoil_hydrogen/index.htm Perhaps this link will spark more attention: http://www.chevrolet.com/electriccar/ It is GM's electric concept car, the Chevy Volt. If more people begin to demand alternative fuel cars, we should be able to speed the rate at which the technology is developed. It’s good to hear BP & GM talk about alternative fuels, but 50 years to implement is too long.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/05/news/companies/bigoil_hydrogen/index.htm

Perhaps this link will spark more attention:
http://www.chevrolet.com/electriccar/

It is GM’s electric concept car, the Chevy Volt. If more people begin to demand alternative fuel cars, we should be able to speed the rate at which the technology is developed.

]]> By: Alternative Fuels Now » The end of the free for all… http://blog.marsdd.com/2008/02/05/finale-for-biofuel-financing-free-for-alls/#comment-31207 Alternative Fuels Now » The end of the free for all… Sun, 10 Feb 2008 05:32:13 +0000 http://blog.marsdd.com/2008/02/05/finale-for-biofuel-financing-free-for-alls/#comment-31207 [...] Kevin Downing on the MaRS blog thinks that it is going to get harder to fund new ethanol plants. I think that he’s right, not only because the regulatory framework that biofuels plants will operate in is likely to change over the coming months and years, but also I think the economics of biofuel production will also slow the rate at which new plants are built. Not only is credit getting tighter and more expensive, but also the cost of corn has risen dramatically over the past 12 months. According to the FAO the annual average price of corn (US No2, US Gulf Friday) has risen 85% from $88.38/ton in 2000 to $164.26 in 2007. In the same period, the annual average price of wheat has grown 137% from $98.75/ton to $234.76/tonne. The rate of annual price change is accelerating. In 2007, according to these figures the price of a ton of corn in the US rose by 34% and the price of a tonne of wheat rose by 48 % compared to rises of around 24% for corn in 2006 and 34% for wheat in 2006. I’ve no idea what’s happened to the price of dried distillers grains, the usual second cash stream from plants, but with the volume of ethanol increasing then I’m going to guess that the price of distillers grains has fallen. Putting the squeeze on anyone trying to build a plant from scratch. And that ignores the price of fuel (also up over the past year) and the cost of water, which could also rise. Biofuels policy should reflect what’s best for the environment, not what’s best for special interest groups like farmers, bankers,bloggers or VC! ;=). Watch the latest videos on YouTube.com Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. [...] [...] Kevin Downing on the MaRS blog thinks that it is going to get harder to fund new ethanol plants. I think that he’s right, not only because the regulatory framework that biofuels plants will operate in is likely to change over the coming months and years, but also I think the economics of biofuel production will also slow the rate at which new plants are built. Not only is credit getting tighter and more expensive, but also the cost of corn has risen dramatically over the past 12 months. According to the FAO the annual average price of corn (US No2, US Gulf Friday) has risen 85% from $88.38/ton in 2000 to $164.26 in 2007. In the same period, the annual average price of wheat has grown 137% from $98.75/ton to $234.76/tonne. The rate of annual price change is accelerating. In 2007, according to these figures the price of a ton of corn in the US rose by 34% and the price of a tonne of wheat rose by 48 % compared to rises of around 24% for corn in 2006 and 34% for wheat in 2006. I’ve no idea what’s happened to the price of dried distillers grains, the usual second cash stream from plants, but with the volume of ethanol increasing then I’m going to guess that the price of distillers grains has fallen. Putting the squeeze on anyone trying to build a plant from scratch. And that ignores the price of fuel (also up over the past year) and the cost of water, which could also rise. Biofuels policy should reflect what’s best for the environment, not what’s best for special interest groups like farmers, bankers,bloggers or VC! ;=). Watch the latest videos on YouTube.com Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. [...]

]]> By: Biofuelsimon http://blog.marsdd.com/2008/02/05/finale-for-biofuel-financing-free-for-alls/#comment-30545 Biofuelsimon Tue, 05 Feb 2008 12:24:13 +0000 http://blog.marsdd.com/2008/02/05/finale-for-biofuel-financing-free-for-alls/#comment-30545 The economics of biofuel production will also slow the rate at which new plants are built. Not only is credit getting tighter and more expensive, but also the cost of corn has risen dramatically over the past 12 months. According to the FAO the annual average price of corn (US No2, US Gulf Friday) has risen 85% from $88.38/ton in 2000 to $164.26 in 2007. In the same period, the annual average price of wheat has grown 137% from $98.75/ton to $234.76/tonne. The rate of annual price change is accelerating. In 2007, according to these figures the price of a ton of corn in the US rose by 34% and the price of a tonne of wheat rose by 48 % compared to rises of around 24% for corn in 2006 and 34% for wheat in 2006. I've no idea what's happened to the price of dried distillers grains, the usual second cash stream from plants, but with the volume of ethanol increasing then I'm going to guess that the price of distillers grains has fallen. Putting the squeeze on anyone trying to build a plant from scratch. And that ignores the price of fuel (also up over the past year) and the cost of water, which could also rise. Biofuels policy should reflect what's best for the environment, not what's best for special interest groups like farmers, bankers,bloggers or VC! ;=). The economics of biofuel production will also slow the rate at which new plants are built. Not only is credit getting tighter and more expensive, but also the cost of corn has risen dramatically over the past 12 months. According to the FAO the annual average price of corn (US No2, US Gulf Friday) has risen 85% from $88.38/ton in 2000 to $164.26 in 2007. In the same period, the annual average price of wheat has grown 137% from $98.75/ton to $234.76/tonne.

The rate of annual price change is accelerating. In 2007, according to these figures the price of a ton of corn in the US rose by 34% and the price of a tonne of wheat rose by 48 % compared to rises of around 24% for corn in 2006 and 34% for wheat in 2006.

I’ve no idea what’s happened to the price of dried distillers grains, the usual second cash stream from plants, but with the volume of ethanol increasing then I’m going to guess that the price of distillers grains has fallen. Putting the squeeze on anyone trying to build a plant from scratch. And that ignores the price of fuel (also up over the past year) and the cost of water, which could also rise. Biofuels policy should reflect what’s best for the environment, not what’s best for special interest groups like farmers, bankers,bloggers or VC! ;=).

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