Domestic automakers have been advertising their flex-fuel vehicles as an answer to independence from foreign oil. That’s because they burn a mix of gasoline and domestically-produced ethanol. But ethanol production has been inefficient. Lester Graham reports:
Transcript
Domestic automakers have been advertising their flex-fuel vehicles as an answer to independence from foreign oil. That’s because they burn a mix of gasoline and domestically produced ethanol. But ethanol production has been inefficient. Lester Graham reports:
Ford Motor Company chairman Bill Ford, Junior says his company increased flex-fuel vehicles on assurances there would be a better source for ethanol.
“It has been mostly corn-based and we knew, we do know that long-term that’s not the answer.”
The hope was breakthroughs to mass produce cellulosic ethanol made from woody plants or waste wood chips were coming quickly. That didn’t happen.
“But, I’ll say this: if we don’t end up with cellulosic ethanol, we’re going to hit the wall pretty quickly in terms of vehicle penetration on ethanol.”
Ford says automakers are looking to fuel providers to find an energy answer that makes sense for mass production. In the meantime his company plans to make lighter vehicles with smaller, but powerful fuel-efficient engines that burn gasoline.
For the Environment Report, this is Lester Graham.