All About Alternate Fuel Vehicles (AFV)

Sao Paulo, Brazil, Jan 24, 2008
Source: AFP
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5goQpr15wNPArazFwqOy3z5Lf95QA

Brazil, the world leader in making ethanol from sugarcane, is homing in on Europe’s biofuel market following a decision by the European Commission to combat climate change by reducing the dependency on petrol.  The EU plan calls for biofuels to be used in at least 10 percent of fuels used in transport in the 27-nation bloc by 2020.  For Brazil’s sugarcane industry, the news is seen as a golden export opportunity.
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First car powered by algal biodiesel to demonstrate real-world driving at Sundance
South San Francisco, Calif. - January 22, 2008
Source: Solazyme, Inc press release
http://www.solazyme.com/news080122.shtml

Solazyme, Inc., a synthetic biology company unleashing the power of aquatic microbes to create clean and scalable solutions for biofuel, industrial chemical, and health and wellness markets, today revealed the first ever algae-derived biodiesel fuel (SoladieselTM) to have undergone road testing by successfully powering a factory-standard automobile for long distances under typical driving conditions. The car and fuel are making their public debuts at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, where they are also featured in Fields of Fuel, Josh Tickell’s documentary about renewable fuels. Soladiesel biodiesel is clean, renewable, environmentally sustainable and scalable.
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Solazyme And Chevron Technology Ventures Enter Into Biodiesel Feedstock Development And Testing Agreement
South San Francisco, Calif - January 22, 2008
Source: Solazyme press release
http://www.solazyme.com/news080122_2.shtml

Solazyme, a synthetic biology company pioneering the clean and sustainable bioproduction of fuels, industrial chemicals and specialty ingredients from marine microbes, today announced that it has signed a biodiesel feedstock development and testing agreement with Chevron Technology Ventures, a division of Chevron U.S.A. Inc.
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By Christine Stebbins, Chicago, 14 Jan 2008
Source: Reuters.com /
Reporting by Christine Stebbins; Editing by Marguerita Choy
http://www.reuters.com/article/GlobalAgricultureandBiofuels08/idUSN1443692020080114

U.S. biodiesel industry growth looks set to stagnate in 2008 given poor profit margins as skyrocketing input costs chill production, the chief executive of an industry trade group said on Monday.  “The economics overall for the biodiesel industry are extremely challenging right now. There’s no question about it there’s been a cooling off what has been some irrational exuberance that has gone on in the investment in biodiesel production capacity over the last two years,” Joe Jobe, CEO of the National Biodiesel Board, told the Reuters Global Agricultural and Biofuels Summit in a telephone interview. (more…)

By Greg Flakus
Detroit, 14 January 2008
Source: VOA News
http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-01-14-voa52.cfm

More than 6,700 reporters from 42 nations are in Detroit for the news media preview of that city’s North American International Auto Show, which opens to the general public this weekend. This year’s show emphasizes fuel efficiency and green technology, but, as VOA’s Greg Flakus reports from Detroit, there are also plenty of big glitzy cars and trucks on display.
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La Porte, MI, Jan 23, 2008
Source: The News Despatch.com
http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&
SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=9040&TM=60170.07

Only the Michigan City and Westville school districts have not made the switch to biodiesel fuel for at least some of their school buses.  Westville, because it’s so small, does not have its own fuel tanks. Buses fill up at a nearby truck stop, business manager Dick Cook said, adding school officials are satisfied with diesel.
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By Jane Northrop, Staff Writer, Jan 23, 2008
Source: Pacifica Tribune
http://www.pacificatribune.com/localnews/ci_8055621

Pacifica City Council approved an innovative biodiesel plant for Pacifica, the first of its kind to be built in the United States that shares facilities with a wastewater treatment plant.  On Monday, Jan. 14, the City Council voted 4-1, with Councilmember Cal Hinton opposed, to approve the environmental impact report and enter into a ground lease agreement with Whole Energy Fuels Corporation for the construction, operation and maintenance of a biodiesel facility at the Calera Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant (CCWTP).
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By Chuck Squatriglia, Jan 24, 2008
Source: Wired.com
http://www.wired.com/cars/energy/news/2008/01/ethanol23

A biofuel startup in Illinois can make ethanol from just about anything organic for less than $1 per gallon, and it wouldn’t interfere with food supplies, company officials said.  Coskata, which is backed by General Motors and other investors, uses bacteria to convert almost any organic material, from corn husks (but not the corn itself) to municipal trash, into ethanol.  “It’s not five years away, it’s not 10 years away. It’s affordable, and it’s now,” said Wes Bolsen, the company’s vice president of business development.
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By Kelly Garrison, Features Editor, Jan 24, 2008
Source: Gazettes.com
http://www.gazettes.com/biodiesel1242008.html

Long Beach soon may follow in the footsteps of several other California cities that have reduced their carbon footprint on the earth, using a new kind of fuel.  The City Council directed City Manager Pat West to investigate the feasibility of using biodiesel to power its 361 city-owned trucks, large cars and other diesel vehicles. The fuel allows engines to get about 400 miles out of each tank and is 35% more energy efficient than petroleum diesel.
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27 Jan 2008
Source: Trend News, azerbaijan
http://news.trend.az/index.shtml?show=news&newsid=1121397&lang=EN

Motorsports have been created to prove automobiles were trustworthy. Later, when these vehicles already had the confidence of consumers (and were no longer threatened by carriages…), they helped develop technologies to make cars safer, faster and cleaner. That’s why it should be no surprise if the Audi R10 wins this year’s edition of Le Mans powered not only by diesel, but by the most interesting kind of this fuel so far: the BTL, or biomass-to-liquid, a second-generation fuel that is produced from straw, useless pieces of wood, compost and other things you would call garbage, but scientists call biomass.
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