Fuel Standards and Ethanol
December 22nd, 2007 by Grant in: Alternative Energy, Energy, PoliticsMy good buddy MJ over at Dyslexic Research forwarded me an article on how President Bush signed a bill to increase fuel efficiency standards to 35 MPG by the year 2020. Also lumped into the bill was a required ramp-up of the use of ethanol at refineries from about 6 billion gallons a year this year to 36 billion gallons by 2022 and additional mandates that by then at least 21 billion gallons are to come from feedstocks other than corn.
I like the fact that we’re raising fuel efficiency standards, finally. However I don’t think we’re exactly pushing technology with 35 MPG. Why don’t we shoot for something a little higher? Why not 40 MPG, or even better, 45 MPG?
We’re 12 years away from the new legislation being put into place, I’d like to think that the big three could ramp up R&D to meet a higher standard than 35 MPG in 12 years.
I like the push for ethanol, even though I think it’s still a farce. If we can figure out a way to produce ethanol with a net energy gain, I’m all for it. I also think it’s smart to require an increasingly larger percentage of ethanol be produced from something other than corn.
All in all, I like the concept, but I have to wonder how serious this move really is. Is the President signing this to appease Democrats and empower Republicans in an election year, or does he really think this is good for the United States, all politics aside.
Tags: ethanol farce | fuel efficiency | fuel standards | MPG | President Bush
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December 23rd, 2007 at 1:16 pm
Thanks for the shout!
I too think that the fuel standards should be raised to more of the 40 mpg range, the technology is there to do it. Most companies here in the US are already making a diesel version of their cars in europe and can achieve really high mileage. They need to do some work to pass the emissions standards in the US but it could be done. However, it will be difficult to make the larger vehicles and trucks to achieve this standard. The weights of these larger vehicles will have to be reduced to improve the mileage, I am unsure how this will be done.
Electronics are what is not being discussed, everyone do me a favor and rent, “Who killed the electric car?” It may change your mind as far as what is the type of car that we all need to be driving. I still think a company like Th!nk out of Norway is going to blow all of these companies out of the water eventually. Hydrogen fuel, natural gas, and others are all developing technologies, but electronics is a developed industry, and only some very few items need to be worked out for a fully electronic car to really be an viable alternative. If not an true alternative, really look for this hybrid technology to spread further into new car development.