One of the big contributors to rising food prices over the past year has been the cost of getting food from the field to the grocer. Truck drivers across Europe and especially in the UK have been protesting increasing fuel costs for months. The U.S. Department of Energy is partnering with the Swedish government and one of the largest manufacturers of heavy trucks - the Volvo group - to find ways to reduce the fuel consumption of those trucks. The two governments and Volvo have already previously committed $12 million to the joint development program and this week announced an additional $36 million dollars. The two governments will each contribute $9 million of the new funds with the rest coming from Volvo. The goal is to reduce fuel consumption of the truck engines by 10 percent. The program will evaluate biofuels in heavy truck engines as well as develop advanced transmissions, new engines and hybrid drive systems.

[Source: Department of Energy]

We're not 100 percent sure what "verified sustainable ethanol" means to everyone, but we do know that Swedish ethanol company SEKAB has worked hard to define the term. In fact, SEKAB is claiming to be the first in the world to supply this type of ethanol, which is made from Brazilian sugarcane and "is quality assured from environmental, climate and social perspectives."

How does SEKAB make this claim? By assuring that the Brazilian producers develop sustainability criteria for the entire lifecycle of the ethanol, from field to fuel tank. With Brazil's questionable labor practices in the ethanol fields (denied by some), SEKAB's criteria include:

• Zero tolerance for child labour, non-organised working conditions (slave labour) and the destruction of rain forests. There are also requirements concerning working conditions, labour laws and wages.
• Harvesting is to be at least 30 per cent mechanised today and this will increase to 100 per cent by 2014.
• In terms of the climate, the demands will result in a reduction of carbon dioxide emissions from farming, production and transport by at least 85 per cent compared with gasoline.

The sustainable ethanol will begin showing up in Swedish pumps in August. We've posted the company's release after the jump; it's also available as a PDF.

click photo to enlarge

Testing fuel cell vehicles is all the rage these days, and Mercedes isn't missing out on the action. The latest hydrogen vehicle tests from the three-pointed star company took place in wintery Sweden. Wouldn't want to coddle a car or anything.

Daimler recently took a B-Class hydrogen car using an optimized fuel-cell system based on the stack in the F 600 HYGENIUS from 2005 through its paces. According to the company, the vehicle worked well in some real world cold situations, was able to hold the road, and in general passed the tests "with flying colours." The road handling issue is extra important, Daimler says, because electric motors (in this case, powered by the fuel cell) don't govern speed the same way as traditional ICEs. Dr. Thomas Weber, Daimler AG board member with responsibility for Research and Development at Mercedes Benz Cars, said the tests showed the drive concept is on the right track. More tests will be done on the fuel cell B-Class in the coming months in preparation for small-series production in 2010. Read more from Daimler after the break

Sweden is one of the leaders (besides Brazil of course) in promoting the use of biofuels, particularly ethanol. The Scandinavian country's latest environmental effort involves trying to address the biggest variable of all, the driver. Since the start of this year, new drivers have been required to learn some techniques that help reduce fuel consumption and emissions.

Stockholm driving instructor Lars Rembjer teaches his students techniques like waiting until first gear has been engaged and the parking brake released before cranking up the engine. There are also the obvious things like driving in the highest practical gear and using the engine for braking. Finland and the Netherlands may soon follow Sweden in adding eco-driving to their licensing tests. The beauty of eco-driving is that it can be equally applied to any all vehicles no matter how old or what fuel it runs on. There is no additional cost and the payback is immediate.

[Source: Planet Ark, via The Truth about Cars]

Click on the Saab 9-4x BioPower concept for a high-res gallery

When it comes to seriously promoting ethanol as a motor fuel, two countries jump to the forefront and neither of the them is the United States. While the U.S. government provides a lot subsidies to corn growers and ethanol producers as well as fuel efficiency credits to vehicles capable of running on E85, the market here is still tiny. Brazil, of course, got into the ethanol game a long time ago thanks to their cultivation of sugar cane. Sweden, however, is the one racing ahead with plans to completely supplant fossil fuels with renewable replacements within the next two decades. While the U.S. has barely topped 1,200 E85 pumps nationwide, the Scandinavian nation of 5 million drivers has over 1,000 already.

The Swedish government gives drivers a break with no pump taxes on ethanol. Hometown brand Saab, with its predominantly turbocharged engine lineup, has been promoting E85 through its BioPower branding. The forestry industry in northern Sweden is also investing heavily in cellulosic ethanol research as a way of making use of their waste products. Now the Michigan government is looking to Sweden for guidance in developing a renewable fuels industry here. With any luck Michigan will be able to create at least a fraction of the 400,000 jobs that are claimed for the renewable fuels industry in Sweden.


[Source: Detroit News]

The more that you read our site, the more interesting things you'll find that are being used to make biofuels around the world. It's time to add to the list, this time with government seized alcohol. In what sounds like a huge waste of good booze, the confiscated alcohol used to be pored out down the drain. Now, it is being mixed with water and trucked to Swedish Biogas in Linköping, where it is mixed with animal remains from slaughterhouses and human waste. Yummy! The waste "is heated and put into anaerobic digesters. The organic materials are broken down, producing the biogas." Also produced are environmentally-friendly fertilizers for farming. The biogas is used like natural gas, and there is even a train which runs on the fuel. Unfortunately, because Sweden does not have much existing infrastructure for natural gas distribution, additional cost is racked up by transportation costs. Still, it is good that Sweden, which has some of the highest alcohol prices in Europe, has come up with a way to use their confiscated alcohol instead of letting it go to waste.

[Source: National Geographic]

A doctoral dissertation by Fredrik Robelius of the Uppsala University in Sweden contends that global oil production will reach its peak yield as early as next year before falling into decline. The thesis, which attempts to estimate the largest oil fields' future production, is based on Robelius's investigation of historical oil production, new oil field discovery and global reserves. The world's largest, or giant, oil fields number less than one percent of all fields but account for over 60 percent of global production.

Analysis: Robelius verified that the decline in reserves of a field is constant at an annual rate of diminution of around six to sixteen percent. His best case scenario - peak oil in 2018. If declining oil reserves push up fuel prices and rising prices drive purchases of fuel efficient vehicles, the day of the hybrids may be just around the corner.

Related:

• ABG POLL RESULTS: Just how fuel efficient is your vehicle?
• California's largest utility looks to the wind to power EVs
• USDA: Biofuel use in U.S. will see spike in next few years, then drop

[Source: PhysOrg.com]

The Greaseball Challenge charity car rally is kicking off this week with a launch party on Thursday and to celebrate Emily Horgan and her team have launched the official Greaseball website and blog. Four teams are leaving from Washington, D.C. in two Mercedes, a VW Rabbit and a van while a fifth team departs from Denver, Colorado in a pick-up. Grease for fuel is being supplied this week by the World Bank and the Hard Rock cafe.

One of the entries, Team ZERO, manufactures hydrogen cars in Norway while other nationalities represented in the rally include the U.S., U.K., Belgium, Sweden, and South Africa.

Analysis: It should be a lot of fun to keep up with the Greaseballers' adventures on their way down through Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

Related:

• Greaseball Challenge charity rally takes biofuel message to Central America
• Interview with Emily Horgan, Director of the Greaseball Challenge

[Source: Greaseball Challenge]

Saab has announced that they will be making their BioPower engines available across the entire 9-3 model lineup including the sedan, SportCombi wagon, and convertible models. They will be using a 1.8L turbocharged four cylinder engine, that can run on any combination of gasoline or ethanol up to 85% ethanol. Thanks to the higher octane of ethanol (99.5 average) compared to gasoline, when the engine management system can optimize turbo boost and spark timing based on the fuel mix. When running on E85, the BioPower engine makes 17% more maximum power (175 hp v 150 hp) and 10% more torque (195 v 177 lb-ft) compared to running on straight gasoline. Unfortunately Saab doesn't yet list how much fuel consumption drops when running on Ethanol. In Saab's homeland of Sweden they already have 650 E85 filling stations with 800 expected to be in operation by the end of 2008.

[Source: Saab]

Click on the image for a gallery of high-res images of the Saab 9-5 BioPower.

At the Brisbane Motor Show, Saab showed off their E85 flex-fuel 9-5 BioPower model which they plan on introducing into the Australian market later this year. Highlighting Saab's leadership in bringing the E85 vehicle to the Australian market, Director Saab Australia and New Zealand, Parveen Batish was on hand to present the BioPower to media representatives. Previously Mr Batish has said that, "Saab is currently a step ahead of the industry. BioPower is a market-ready ethanol powered vehicle that we want to launch in Australia as soon as possible."

The 9-5 BioPower on display at the Brisbane Show is one of four currently undergoing testing around Australia where E85 is currently not available at the pump. The vehicle is already a successful model in its domestic Swedish market where sales have exceeded expectations as drivers look to switch from petrol to emissions-friendly bioethanol. More than 12,000 BioPower cars have been delivered since sales began in Sweden in July 2005 which the 9-5 BioPower clearly establishing itself as the country's top selling environmentally-friendly vehicle. The current 2.0t BioPower model accounts for over 80 percent of all Swedish 9-5 sales.

Analysis: The Australian state of Queensland, of which Brisbane is the state capital, is ideally placed to take advantage of an ethanol flex-fuel vehicle such as the 9-5 BioPower due to the substantial local sugar cane industry. E10 is now available at a number of locations across the state but E85 is still a while away due to the lack of vehicles on sale that can take advantage of the fuel.



Related:

• Saab's Australian release of their BioPower vehicles on video
• Saab Australia pushing for E85 BioPower model
• Saab Australia goes carbon neutral

[Source: Saab Australia]

The Swedish oil company Statoil is currently selling E85 ethanol at 170 of their gas stations throughout Sweden, a number which should increase to 260 by the end of 2007. Last year they sold 5.2 million gallons of E85, an increase of 270 percent compared to 2005. During the same time 36,711 flex-fuel cars were sold in Sweden, a jump of 156 percent from the previous year and 13.5 percent of all new car registrations. In 2005 only 5.2 percent of new car sales were flex-fuel capable. This growth probably hasn't been hurt by Saab's promotion of their BioPower flex-fuel models, and since Sweden doesn't have much if any domestic oil, they are also heavily promoting cellulosic ethanol development, to make them more energy self-sufficient.

[Source: StatOil]

I think this is one of the more impressive plans I have heard in a while. Sweden plans to completely stop using all fossil-fuels by the year 2020. What are the chances that the U.S. is next? To reach this rather ambitious goal, the government there plans tax breaks for consumers who heat their homes with renewable fuels and a "green certificate" system for utilities that meet their standards. Volvo plans to be the first heavy industry to emit ZERO global warming pollution by the end of THIS year. Again, very impressive methinks.

Sweden already gets 26 percent of their energy from sources other than fossil fuels, and plans to get new electricity from renewable sources such as wind, wave and solar power.

This is very ambitious, as Sweden is the second-highest per-capita consumer of energy in Europe at this time. Not everyone thinks they will reach their goal. According to Per Kågeson, director of Nature Associates, large-scale conversion to ethanol could lead to more clearing of rainforests and ultimately elevate greenhouse gas emissions in countries outside of Sweden. It could also mean the end of Swedish biofuel exports. Countries that rely on Swedish biofuel may be forced to switch to fossil fuels.

Related:

• Volvo truck factory in Sweden going a little easier on the environment
• What I want to hear from Bush in the State of the Union speech RE: energy

[Source: Green Options]

Ethanol or liquid petroleum gas (LPG)? Battle lines for alternative fuels are being drawn between automakers General Motors and Ford Motor Co. with much of the differences based on nationality.

Saab, which is owned by General Motors, is backing ethanol as the fuel of the future. Ford Australia is backing LPG. Both marques point out that their vehicles simply cannot support the other's fuel either technologically or, in most cases, nationally. States spokeswoman Sinead McAlary of Ford, "Cars in Australia are not built to run on E85, and there isn't an E85 network here to allow people to fuel their vehicles. It would take a total shift of the [automotive] market and sizeable resources [for E85 to become viable here]. And it would take significant steps for the fuel to become well recognised by people in Australia."

Saab counters that its ethanol-powered vehicles are exempt from certain charges and fees like parking in the city of Stockholm. Also, most European automakers have discontinued investment in LPG technologies, focusing instead on ethanol. Finally, the Swedish automaker points out that its Biopower Saab turbo engines actually perform more effectively with ethanol instead of LPG and can even run on unleaded fuel.

[Source: Sydney Morning Herald]

Ford CEO Bill Ford and Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson met to discuss plans to develop a center where environmentally friendly technologies such as a new hybrid vehicle would be developed. Volvo Car Corporation, one of Ford's Premiere Auto Group, will be contributing more than $1 billion dollars to such technology while the Swedish government will be contributing $14 million as part of the country's plan to be oil-free by 2010. Ford will later meet this week with Swedish industrial leaders on advancing the country's companies world-wide.

[Source: Associated Press via Houston Chronicle]

Dimethyl Ether (DME), which is used as a propellant in spray cans, can also be used as a fuel. The Swedish government has given permission and funding to Volvo to develop engines capable of running on the alternative fuel. Volvo already has developed two generations of DME engines; the project would use third generation engines which would be installed in trucks in 2009 and 2010.

It is unknown if DME engines are part of Sweden's plans for energy independence by 2020. The fuel could be attractive to the country since it's easily made domestically from paper pulp residue.

Related: One more alternative to consider: DME

[Source: Australasian Business News]