BEST Project Launches for Ethanol Use
31 January 2006
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| BEST Locations |
The BEST (BioEthanol for Sustainable Transport) project officially launched in Stockholm last week at a three-day conference for all participants.
BEST is a four-year project, partly funded by the European Union (EU), in which three vehicle manufacturers, ten locations, five ethanol producers and four universities will cooperate cross-functionally to accelerate the introduction of bioethanol as alternative automotive fuel in Europe.
The objective for the BEST project is to establish a launch pad for a major breakthrough in the perception of bioethanol as an alternative automotive fuel. It is also carrying out research to encourage the use of common standards and recommendations for Europe.
The first phase of the project calls for the creation of a functioning infrastructure with at least 140 E85 and E95 pumps at ten selected sites, including eight European cities, Nanyang in China and Sao Paolo in Brazil.
Project sponsors hope that this will lead to about 10,000 bioethanol-powered cars being put on the road as demonstrators to inspire businesses, communities and motorists in general. Among the longer-term goals is the testing of hybrid-electric vehicles running blends from E10 to E85.
Saab Automobile, Ford of Europe and Omni/Scania are contributed from the automotive sector. The fuel producers involved come from Sweden, Holland, Great Britain, Ireland and Brazil.
The contributing universities are Umeå University (Sweden), Tsinghua University (China), Genoa University (Italy) and Imperial College (UK). The participating cities are Stockholm, Rotterdam, Dublin, Madrid, Baskia, La Spezia, Nanyang (China) and Sao Paulo (Brazil), in addition to the county of Somerset (UK) and the Biofuel Region (Sweden).
The City of Stockholm is acting as a coordinator for starting up initiatives.
Resources:
As much as I'd like to jump on the "BEST" bandwagon, some things need...alignment. So far E85 vehicles have shown poorer mileage than gasoline cousins. There is no point to alternative-fuel vehicles that don't get better mileage. This could be corrected by smaller displacement engines, higher pressure turbos etc. Ethanol can be a replacement for methanol in many ways, including biodiesels transesterfication prosess. This could allow for another truly renewable, value-added fuel that heavy-duty trucks and buses could use...without any modification. And I would gladly test it in my obselete Saab turbodiesel thats been eeking out 32mpg this winter. Constant summer driving should be back up to ~43.
Posted by: fred | 01 February 2006 at 02:23 AM
Saab just came out with an E85 capable car that put out more power when using ethanol, while getting the same or better mileage as with gasoline. That's a significant increase in thermal efficiency.
Posted by: Schwa | 01 February 2006 at 06:25 AM
That Saab car is called 9-5 BioPower I believe.
Check out Popular Science
http://www.popsci.com/popsci/automotivetech/564c1196aeb84010vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html
Liquor Does It Quicker
Saab’s BioPower engine gives ethanol a kick in the pants
By Matthew Phenix | June 2005
Related Articles:
Liquor Does It Quicker
Fuel’s Paradise?
With all the buzz about hybrids, it’s easy to ignore our homegrown alternative fuel: ethanol. Clean-burning and infinitely renewable—we’re talking grain alcohol—ethanol is dear to environmentalists and economists alike. The standard 85/15-percent ethanol/gasoline blend (E85) is widely used in Sweden, but there are only 313 E85 fueling stations in the U.S. And motorheads aren’t clamoring for more, because E85 typically delivers inferior fuel economy; it has about 75 percent of the potential energy of gasoline, so it takes up to 20 percent more hooch to keep horsepower on par. But E85 also has a high octane rating (around 110), and Saab realized that a turbocharger could harness it. Turbos push extra air into the cylinder, and higher octane allows a fuel to better endure the increased pressure. So Saab cranked up its fans and created the BioPower engine, the first commercially available ethanol turbo. A computer samples the fuel mixture and adjusts boost pressure—from 5.8 psi for pure gasoline to 13.8 psi for E85. Running straight gasoline, the engine produces 148 horsepower, but E85 jacks it up to 184, with no penalty in fuel economy.
SAAB 9-5 2.OT Biopower Sedan
SPECS
GASOLINE
E85
POWER
148 hp
184 hp
TORQUE
177 lb.-ft
207 lb.-ft
MAX. BOOST
5.8 psi
13.8 psi
0-62 MPH
9.8 sec
8.5 sec
TOP SPEED
134 mph
140 mph
PRICE
$35,000
$35,000
*based on exchange rates at press time
STATS
THE NUMBERS THAT COUNT
Number of E85 REFUELING STATIONs, By state*
Minn
119
Ill.
51
Iowa
21
S.D.
20
Mo.
17
Neb.
16
Wis.
11
Colo.
10
S.C.
9
N.D.
9
Other
30
*as of 5/12/05
How much more you'll have to pay for a flexible-fuel Vehicle
Zero
Average price per gallon in the U.S.*
Biodiesel
$2.27
Diesel
$2.24
Gasoline
$2.11
Ethanol
$1.86
Natural Gas
$1.47
*as of 3/21/05
Corn used for fuel produces about:
53%
Ethanol
42.5%
Animal Feed
4.5%
Corn Oil
Effect of federal taxes on Ethanol in cents per gallon
-51.0
Effect o federal taxes on gas, in cents per gallon
+18.4
Based on information from: National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition; U.S. Department of Energy; National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; Internal Revenue Service
Posted by: M | 01 February 2006 at 08:54 AM
I am proud of nanyang(China)!
Congratulations!
Posted by: xuxuchong | 26 April 2006 at 11:09 PM
I am planning to drive through France to central Italy in early April in a Bio-power Saab 9-5. I understand that there are still no E85 filling stations in France, and only one in Italy - at La Spieza. If this situation changes in the meantime, would somebody PLEASE let me know. Don
Posted by: Don O,Donovan | 18 January 2007 at 05:12 PM