The Morrisons supermarket chain in the UK are now offering B30 biodiesel at 50 of the filling stations it operates. The blend of 30 percent biodiesel and 70 percent petro-diesel is one of the highest commercially available concentrations that is actually approved by an automaker. Peugeot and Citroen have certified all the diesel vehicles it has built for the past decade for use with B30. An estimated 1.5 million HDi models from Puegeot/Citroen are warrantied for use with the newly available fuel. The biofuel component of the fuel being offered by Morrisons is comprised of equal parts waste vegetable oil and rapeseed (canola) oil. Ford has not determined whether the diesel engines that it has jointly developed with Peugeot are capable of operating safely on B30.

[Source: AutoCar]

As pump prices hit $10 /gallon in the UK, the demand for do-it-yourself biodiesel kits is rising just as fast. Companies that manufacture the kits for brewing diesel at home like Goat Industries are finding it hard to keep up with demand as sales as risen by 25 percent in the past year. Home brewing of biodiesel can cost as little as 15p/liter or $1.14 /gallon which makes it a highly attractive prospect. British drivers have also been encouraged by the elimination of taxes on low volume fuel production. Of course with increasing production of biodiesel means demand for the raw material, used cooking oil which has gone from $100 to $1,100 a tonne over the past five years. That has triggered a rise in the theft of used oil. Given these conditions, we can surely look forward to the end of free waste oil supplies from Chinese restaurants and fast food joints.

[Source: AutoExpress]

British race team ECO Racing has announced their intention to compete in three of this years remaining American Le Mans Series races with a car running on biodiesel. ECO racing is taking up the ALMS's Green Racing challenge with a Radical LMP1 chassis powered by a production based V10 diesel. The team had originally planned to compete at the Sebring 12 Hour race earlier this year but regulatory issues kept them off the track. They are now back and ready to compete at Road America, Road Atlanta and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. ECO racing first ran a biodiesel fueled car at Le Mans in 2004 two years before the debut of the Audi R10 TDI. The team runs a jatropha based fuel supplied by D1 Oils. The Petit Le Mans race at Road Atlanta will also be the debut of the ALMS Green Challenge where teams will earn points based on the total carbon footprint of there cars. A team like ECO Racing should have a good chance for that trophy since they run an efficient diesel engine fueled by an oil from an inedible tree.

[Source: American Le Mans Series]

Late next year, Volvo will start field testing 14 trucks fueled with dimethyl ether, a biomass-derived fuel. DME is produced by gasification of biomass materials, with the syngas converted to a fuel through a catalytic process. The Volvo development program is being paid for in part by the Swedish Energy Agency and the European 7th framework program. DME evidently works well as fuel in diesel engines but offers much lower particulate and NOx emissions. There are however issues that need to be addressed. DME has poor lubricity compared to conventional diesel and is stored similar to liquified petroleum gas in low pressure storage tanks at about 5 BAR. The field tests are part of a European program that will also look at DME distribution and storage. The field testing in Sweden will occur over a three year period.

[Source: Newspress.co.uk]

I feel really honored to be able to participate in the AutoblogGreen community, especially when I'm able to get people talking about a political issue (like yesterday, with the "blame a liberal" post) and I want to thank those of you who contributed excellent comments to that post.

Today, I just want to point out a fun post over at Crooks And Liars that shows how two political candidates in Virginia promoted their causes during a Fourth of July parade in Scottsville. The Democrat, somone named Tom Perrielo, rode on a biodiesel-fueled tractor. The Republican, incumbent Virgil Goode, rode through in an enclosed Hummer, according to C&L (see a video after the jump). I'm sure a few of you have a comment or two to leave about this, no?

In any case, I'm about to take a few weeks off and spend some time in Europe. I'll be around a bit tomorrow and the rest of the AutoblogGreen team will keep things humming once I'm out the door, so keep on enjoying the site. Thanks.

[Source: Crooks And Liars]

The modern definition of a hybrid vehicle is any single machine with multiple sources of power. Usually, this means one internal combustion engine and one electric motor with batteries. This is again the case with the Biohazard Jet Bike, though its internal combustion engine happens to be a propane-fed turbine engine which spins at up to 112,000 revolutions per minute and produces forty-five pounds of thrust. The electric motor is powered by twenty-four volts of juice and is said to be good for eighteen miles per hour for up to twenty miles.

The bike also has pedals, though they are non-functional. From the looks of things, much of the cycle comes from the pedal-powered world, with a front fork and wheels cribbed from the bike world for sure. Still, this machine looks like lots of fun, and jet engines have been known to run on nearly any combustible fuel, including our personal favorite: biodiesel.

Related:

• Inventive minds attach a jet engine to a Honda Ruckus

[Source: eBay Motors]

Click above on the Ego concept for more images of VW's 2028 concepts

Apparently, Volkswagen thinks its time for another weird and wacky look into the future. This time, the German automaker is gazing just twenty years ahead. The results of its future look are three virtual concept cars. Yes, all three are capable of driving themselves, as you would likely imagine. As would be expected of any self-respecting gaze into the future, petroleum is not part of the picture. In its place are biofuels for those who simply must have liquid fuels and, of course, electricity. We feel pretty confident that these projections are possible, but that's right about where any semblance to reality ends.

After taking a leisurely stroll through the über clean park, a father and his son are reminded that it is time to leave by a hologram. What car to have delivered? The VW One wouldn't do, as it only seats a single occupant. The VW Room is overkill, as it is intended for an entire family. So, the son chooses to summon an Ego, a two-seater sportscar concept complete with user-defined green flames.

[Source: Volkswagen 2028]

Maybe it's a good thing that American biofuel plants are filing for bankruptcy protection. According to a previously secret report conducted by the World Bank and obtained by the Guardian newspaper, biofuel production is hugely responsible for the food price crisis. How much? The report - the "most detailed analysis of the crisis so far," in the Guardian's words - says that biofuels caused global food prices to rise by 75 percent. This is much higher than previous estimates. Food Before Fuel estimated a 30 percent influence, and the Guardian says the U.S. government claims that biofuels were responsible for just a three percent rise.

The kicker? The report was finished in April but has been kept secret "to avoid embarrassing President George Bush," the Guardian writes. We wouldn't want that, now, would we?

Requiring ethanol and biodiesel in national fuel supplies helped push costs up, but sugarcane ethanol from Brazil did not play as big a role. All the more reason to bring out the second-gen biofuels as soon as feasible. Read more here.

[Source: Guardian]

Over the past year, the price of diesel fuel has climbed up above the cost of gasoline and stayed there consistently. Unfortunately for diesel drivers, that price differential also applies to biodiesel to an even larger degree. Nonetheless, the extra 10 cents a gallon for B20 over straight petroleum diesel hasn't stopped people at one station in Fort Collins, Colorado. Sales of Blue Sun B20 at the Team Petroleum have continued to climb this year even at the higher prices although some other stations have discontinued selling B20. It's possible that drivers who are only marginally interested in using a greener fuel have given up on the more expensive option. With the reduced availability, other more environmentally conscious drivers have probably switched over to the Team station as a result. The city of Fort Collins is still using B20 in city vehicles as well although they may have to reconsider if prices continue to climb.

[Source: The Coloradoan]

Photo by Martin Pettitt. Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0.

It was not an easy journey. Following a tragic first attempt, the crew of the biodiesel-powered Earthrace boat set out a second time to break the record for motorized circumnavigation. On the second trip, a biodiesel flood and a lost engine were serious setbacks, but this past weekend, the Earthrace pulled into Sagunto, Sapin, two months after setting forth. The 61-day journey means that the Earthrace can now claim to be the best at circling the globe with an engine: the previous such record took two weeks longer to go the distance.

The Guardian UK has a nice story about the crew's victory, the many troubles they faced along the way, and the well-deserved parties in their future. As tipster Sayyad wrote in to AutoblogGreen, "I think congratulations are in order, especially considering all they've been through." True, but let's not forget that the record for sailing around the world using nothing but wind and human power is just over 50 days. Sails beat biofuels on the open seas. h/t to Sayyad!


[Source: Guardian UK]

Earlier this year, Gushan Environmental Energy Limited reached an annual biodiesel production capacity of 240,000 tons with a new plant in Beijing. At the time, Gushan said they hoped to reach an annual capacity of 400,000 tons by the end of 2008. They are now getting 50,000 tons closer.

Gushan started building a new biodiesel facility in Shanghai yesterday, and the 50,000-ton plant will help cement Gushan's place as China's largest biodiesel producer (by annual production capacity). Two more plants (30,000 tons each) are scheduled to open later this year, and the Beijing plant will be expanded by 50,000 tons. Gushan biodiesel's main feedstocks are "vegetable oil offal and used cooking oil." That's how the press release reads. Since offal usually means waste animal parts (or a delicacy, depending on where you live), I'm not sure if there is a comma missing or if the company is using the word to mean waste veggie oil. We'll see what Gushan's PR people can tell me.

[Source: Gushan Environmental Energy Limited]

In 2007, the EU used 7.7m tons of oil equivalent (TOE), which accounted for 2.6 percent of all fuels used for road transport that year. This is half of the 2010 target of 5.75 percent usage of biofuels, which means that Europeans will need more imports and to increase production if this target isn't changed.

Europe's leader in biofuel use is Germany, burning more than 4 million TOEs, followed by France (1.4 million), Austria (0.4 million) and Spain (0.35 million). EurObserv'ER published a report on EU biofuel use under sponsorship of the European Commission as well as the European Agency for Environment and Energy Control. Get it here.

[Source: Eurobserver]

Bloomfield Hills, MI-based Sequest LLC is contemplating building a pilot algae biodiesel plant in Holland (on Michigan's west side). Holland has a number of attributes that make it a good location for this particular project. Sequest wants the plant to use waste water for growing the algae and carbon-dioxide to feed it. A coal-fired power plant is in close proximity to the local water treatment plant. Michigan State University also has a research lab nearby.

The intention is to pipe the CO₂ from the power plant through the waste water but it must be separated from other pollutants, like mercury. MSU, which has tremendous expertise in agricultural research, is expected to provide assistance with developing new strains of algae that would be more amenable to the biofuel production. The state of Michigan is currently in the process of passing legislation that would provide $18 million for biofuel projects including $7 million for the Holland algae plant.

[Source: MLive.com]

Fans of biodiesel have reason for a small celebration as this week as the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) voted to approve a standard for B20 biodiesel. ASTM controls the standards for commercially available fuels (among many other things) to ensure that what is sold at the pump meets certain minimum requirements for performance and content. Automakers test all of their vehicles with ASTM standard fuels validate, performance efficiency and durability of the components. Until now, there was only a standard for commercial biodiesel blends up to 5 percent. Chrysler, among others, has been shipping diesel-powered vehicles from the factory filled with B5 for several years and warranties engines when used with B5.

Now that the B20 standard has been ratified most carmakers, including Chrysler and Volkswagen, have indicated that they will test their diesel engines and modify them if necessary so that they can be covered by the warranty when operated with B20. ASTM also approved standards for the use of up to 5 percent biodiesel in standard diesel fuels. Those of you choosing to run on the cast-offs from fast food joints and Chinese restaurants are still on your own for now.

[Source: National Biodiesel Board]

By the middle of the next decade Mercedes-Benz wants its entire lineup to be able to operate entirely free of petroleum. The German giant is working on a variety of technologies that will help provide crude oil free transport such as battery electrics, fuel cells and highly efficient internal combustion engines that can operate on biofuels. Mercedes has recently been letting European journalists sample some of these new powertrains at a test facility in Spain.

The F700 concept that debuted last fall in Frankfurt is powered by a turbocharged DiesOtto engine. The DiesOtto is Mercedes' branding for a combined HCCI and spark ignition engine that provides nearly the same efficiency as a diesel without the need for the expensive after-treatment systems. This and conventional diesel engines can run on biofuels and Mercedes hopes to launch the DiesOtto in production by 2010. Mercedes is also currently field testing electrically-driven vehicles with both batteries alone and fuel cells each of which they also plan to launch at the beginning of the decade. While it may well be that all Mercedes models in 2015 will be capable of running petroleum free, the reality is that many - if not most - will still be using fossil fuels much of the time. That may come in the form of coal for electricity, natural gas reformed into hydrogen, or petroleum fuels blended with biofuels. But you have to start somewhere.

[Source: The Sun]