FuelClub Discount

Last month the Wall Street Journal accused me of advocating subsidies for food-based ethanol. I ought to “take a vow of embarrassed silence,” it said, for claiming that ethanol’s contribution to the food crisis is “overblown.” The Journal’s claims would be laughable if the stakes were not so high.

Cellulosic biofuels offer a chance to have an environmentally meaningful impact on petroleum use while benefiting farmers, entrepreneurs and consumers. I have many investments in biofuels companies. Some say I believe in biofuels because I have invested in them. The truth is that I invest in biofuels because I believe they can help our environment, economy and national security.

Just as the word “drug” can refer to aspirin or cocaine, “biofuel” refers to a variety of products that vary dramatically in their environmental impact and effects on food prices. For instance, biodiesel from food oils such as soybean or palm oil has traditionally created environmental negatives. But corn ethanol has been a stepping stone to cellulosic ethanol, a preferred alternative that is likely to achieve unsubsidized market competitiveness with oil within a few years.
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General Motors Corp said on Wednesday it was partnering with Clean Energy Fuels Corp on a new hydrogen refueling station in Los Angeles that the companies hope will be the first of many.

GM is one of a handful of car companies developing fuel cell-powered vehicles, which run on hydrogen and emit only water vapor. Fuel cell vehicles are being touted as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reduce the United States’ dependency on pricey crude oil.

In a statement, the two companies said they are discussing opportunities to expand the first station, which will be located near Los Angeles International Airport, into a network of hydrogen stations used to refuel fuel cell vehicles.
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Phoenix-based Honeywell Aerospace has formed a partnership with Airbus, JetBlue Airways and others to find a way to make jet fuel from renewable sources, such as algae and a hearty arid plant called jatropha.

The technology could help break the airline industry’s tie to high-cost fossil fuels, leading to more profitable operations and lower fares. It also could help temper global warming by reducing greenhouse gases emitted by aircraft.

The green fuel will be tested in Phoenix in an auxiliary power unit made by Honeywell. The small turbine engines provide electricity to the aircraft when the main engines are off. Honeywell Aerospace has been working on developing engines that burn alternative fuels.
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If Rudolf Diesel, inventor of the principle that bears his name, looked under the hood of today’s diesel-powered vehicles, he probably wouldn’t recognize the engine as a relative of the original compression ignition concept he patented 115 years ago.

In truth, the modern diesel has nothing in common with its older counterpart other than the fact it burns the same fuel.

Consider Audi’s victories at the fabled Le Mans 24-hour race with a diesel-powered race car. It went head-to-head with the best gasoline-powered engines the world has to offer and whipped them all. Obviously, the racing engine is different from the road-going version, but it demonstrates how the once lowly oil-burner is now capable of speed, enduring performance and terrific overall efficiency.
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UPS, the world’s largest shipping carrier, said Tuesday it has ordered 200 hybrid electric vehicles and another 300 compressed natural gas vehicles as it seeks to make its fleet more fuel efficient and environment-friendly.

The Atlanta-based company, also known as United Parcel Service Inc., did not say how much it is paying for the 500 vehicles, which will increase UPS’ alternative fuel fleet from 1,718 to 2,218 low-carbon vehicles — more than 2 percent of its worldwide fleet of 93,000.

The 200 hybrid electric vehicles, which will be used starting in 2009, are expected to save 176,000 gallons of fuel annually. The 300 compressed natural gas vehicles will be used starting later this year.
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