Fuel Ethanol Workshop

Tom recently attended the Fuel Ethanol Workshop in Minneapolis in the mid west USA. One of the major developments has been approval from the EPA to increase to 15% the amount of ethanol that can be added to fuel. This was after extensive testing to confirm it did not cause any issues in motor vehicle engines. This removes the “Blend Wall” and opens the opportunity to make use of more cellulosic ethanol in gasoline.

Production of ethanol from cellulose based plant fibre such as corn cobs/crop residues, wheat straw and switch grass is gaining mo-mentum. Some large plants are now under construction that will have a capacity of around 100 million litres per year. These will be used to evaluate and progress the technology and prove its commercial viability.

DuPont ‘Field to Fuel’ exhibit incorporating Pioneer Seeds, Genencor enzymes and Fermasure, which prevents contamination in fermenters.