Honda Finds New Way to Produce Ethanol

Honda has teamed up with a Japanese research firm to develop a new way of producing ethanol fuel. Previously made from either corn or sugarcane, ethanol has been an increasing hot topic among automakers, environmentalists and politicians, but overall it is still costly to produce with little infrastructure in the United States.

Honda has at least figured out the production problem. Converting corn and sugarcane into ethanol yielded little fuel given the amount of raw material used, and it also saps food stocks. The new method uses inedible and discarded plant material and is vastly more efficient. Honda is planning to produce an ethanol-capable vehicle for the Brazilian market, but major U.S. automakers like Ford and General Motors already have hundreds of thousands of flex-fuel vehicles on the road now that can run on either ethanol or gasoline.   

Honda hasn’t been promoting its ethanol plans, and the company is better known for its gasoline hybrids. One Honda spokesman said ethanol could account for 30% of fuel in the U.S. by 2025. If this new process can be widely adopted, we’re ready to believe that number.

[Honda Envisions Cars That Run on Leaves, Rice Straw, MarketWatch]

Comments

Sounds sensible and sustainable. If they can get this plan to work, I'd buy one.

At least this is an honest attempt at conservation,unlike GMs "Sequel" fantasy ride that operates off of a gas that almost doesnt exist (for 80% of the drivers anyway).

I disagree with the statement that corn-based ethanol "saps food stocks." All the by-products (i.e. left-overs) of producing ethanol from corn are chemical free and fed to cattle.

I do agree that more efficient ways of producing ethanol are needed. Rice straw sounds like a great Japanese option, but I still think we haven't finished our homework on U.S. production of ethanol.

Jeremy,
the point being at some time the corn used to make ethanol might be needed to feed a growing global population. If either demand goes up there could be problems.

I would assume the corn husks themselves could be used in this new process though right?

The major issue with corn is that it costs more to plant, grow, harvest and process. True, most of the food isn't wasted, but cheaper is always better, and we won't make a significant decrease in greenhouse gas vs. petroleum until much simpler, cheaper feedstocks are viable. (Currently, the pollution levels at the tailpipe are practically the same for E85 and gasoline; the whole lifecycle, including the fuel production, brings it down about 30 percent. Scientists believe it can come down 80 percent if we use cellulosic.)

Currently, cellulosic sources are seen as the holy grail, so if Honda has cracked that code, it's good news for all of us, and we can move on to simple, cheap feedstocks like waste material or switchgrass. To Dave's point, I can't speak to the balance, but it's possible that someday cheap feedstocks will be competing with food crops like corn for farmland. It's important to recognize that no single alternative fuel will replace petroleum. Nothing will replace it, but it will take multiple options to even make a dent. Ethanol, like biodiesel, can come from multiple sources. Everyone can play.

We are on the wrong track! Biodiesel from either soybean or palm oil has the highest yeild (besides microbial) in producing clean efficent renewable energy... our country utilizes 46 billion gallons of diesel each year... by 2010 we could have 5% biodiesel blended with our consumption with only positive effects including a reduction of toxic emissions... our government needs to provide funding to enhance our freedom of oil independence now...

i think it is possible but how? this only due to big research