Biodiesel

If you’ve been considering an alternative-fuel vehicle for your next car but were wondering where on earth to fill up, look no further than the U.S. Department of Energy. That’s right — the DoE has put together a handy web site where you can search for refueling stations for just about any kind of fuel except regular, ol’ gasoline:

• Biodiesel (B20 and above)
• Compressed Natural Gas
• Electric
• Ethanol (E85)
• Hydrogen
• Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)
• Liquefied Petroleum Gas (Propane)

It should surprise no one that California leads the way in most types of alternative fuel stations. E85 is huge in the Midwest, which is another no-brainer, but biodiesel is big in Georgia and the Carolinas, which I did not know. Texas has hundreds of propane filling stations, as anyone who watches “King of the Hill” would probably guess.

There is a ton of information on the Alternative Fuels and Advanced Vehicles Data Center, and it will be a valuable resource as more alternative-fueled cars come to market in the next four years or so. Bookmark it now, folks, and tell all your friends who love green cars.

This month Interstate 65, which runs from Gary, Indiana, to Mobile, Alabama, become America’s first biofuels corridor, with help from the U.S. Energy Department, General Motors, and the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council. What does a biofuels corridor mean for drivers? It means that there are dozens of stations along I-65 offering E85 (85% ethanol, 15% gasoline) or B20 (20% biodiesel, 80% regular diesel), each spaced no more than a quarter tank apart.

The idea is less romantic than Route 66, but far more practical and forward-thinking. The route covers four states: Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama. Seems like the perfect place to try out your new $2.4-million Koenigsegg CCXR supercar, which runs on E85. It could do this route from stem to stern in a cool three and a half hours.

Photo by peggydavis66.

While the headlines are filled with the effect Hurricane Ike had on oil refineries in Texas — and the speculation surrounding oil prices that drove gasoline prices wild — green fuel took a hit, too. GreenHunter Energy, Inc. said its Houston biodiesel refinery, the largest in the country, would be out of commission for six to eight weeks due to damage sustained during the storm.

The Green Car Advisor reports that the zero-emissions Texas plant can produce 105 million gallons of biodiesel on its 20-acre site. When Ike came ashore, the plant suffered flood damage, and its power was knocked out. The utility company said it can restore electricity and natural gas service to GreenHunter in six to eight weeks. The company will use diesel- and gas-powered generators in the meantime.

GreenHunter officials stated that the damage to the main equipment seemed to them to be minimal, and that the company would be back up and running ASAP. The second-largest biodiesel refinery is the Imperium plant located in Grays Harbor, Washington, which refines 100 million gallons of biodiesel per year. Here’s hoping they, along with the smaller plants around the country, can pick up GreenHunter’s slack until the Houston location comes back online in November.

Darryl Hannah is at it again. Hollywood’s eco-warrior extraordinaire (and actress) plans to convert Elle Driver’s 1980 T-top Trans Am from gasoline to electric power. It’s like my two favorite things melding into one: the Quentin Tarantino two-part modern-day samurai flick “Kill Bill” and alternative-powered automobiles. Maybe they could program the horn to play that song Elle whistles as she walks down the hallway in her nurse’s uniform to kill The Bride.

Hannah recently auctioned off her biodiesel-powered El Camino, so she has some experience with converting ’70s iron to new-millenium power. The trouble with the Trans Am will be its weight. EVs are typically tiny and light, neither of which describe the black American road hog from the film. The batteries will be under a lot of stress to power such heavy car, and Hannah admits in the Denver Post that she doesn’t expect it to have much of a range.

The power she’ll use to charge up the car will be as clean as it gets, though. Hannah says she’ll use her own solar power (as opposed to her more ethereal star power) from her off-the-grid Colorado ranch.

The Alternative Energy and Transportation Expo will roll into Santa Monica for the third straight year September 26-27, at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. For the first time ever, the show will also set up camp in Texas, at the Austin Energy Alt Car Expo inside the Palmer Events Center October 17-18. Both events are free, free, free.

If you’re new to alternative-energy-powered vehicles, these events would be a good place to start. More than 150 exhibits will detail different fuels, such as hydrogen, hybrids, ethanol, electricity — both AC and DC — and even natural gas and propane. Experts will be on hand to answer any questions you may have, whether you’re an SUV driver thinking about driving greener or an engineer who converted his Porsche 914 to an AC motor.

Perhaps the most useful part of the expo is the Ride and Drive lot, where visitors can experience alternative fuels first-hand and evaluate their pluses and minuses from the driver’s (or passenger’s) seat. Seminars and panel discussions will be held during both weekends, featuring authors who’ve analyzed the future of the auto industry and movers and shakers from within the industry itself.

At a press event in Portland, Oregon, Dan Kapp, Ford’s director of powertrain research, said that the company has plans to become the number-one hybrid  producer in the country next year. By adding hybrid versions of the Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan to the Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner hybrids already on the market, Ford will double the number of its hybrids on the road.

Kapp laid out Ford’s long-term strategy, from today to 2050. The company plans to migrate its advanced fuel-saving technologies, like hybrid systems and the new EcoBoost engine, across the product line by 2012, so at least a few Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury vehicles will get a little better gas mileage. By 2020, Kapp said Ford will fully implement current technology and begin to delve into more gasoline-electric hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and more. After that, the plan is to roll out hydrogen fuel-cell cars, biofuel-powered vehicles, and whatever other new technologies have developed by then.

Kapp was eager to point out the advantages of Ford’s new EcoBoost engine, which uses gasoline direct injection and turbocharging to raise fuel efficiency by as much as 20% and lower tailpipe emissions by as much as 15%. The physically smaller engine will be able to deliver the same or greater power as traditional Ford engines, and will be available first in the 2009 Lincoln MKS sedan.

Kapp pointed out that while Ford was not pursuing hydrogen-powered cars as quickly as Honda, nor was it chasing Chevy’s PHEV Volt with any conviction, it does have the first driveable hydrogen fuel-cell PHEV in the Edge HySeries. The fleet of 30 cars is still very much in the test stage, and Kapp noted that hydrogen fuel has “monumental infrastructure problems.”

When fielding questions about bringing clean diesel cars from Europe (answer: not any time soon), a fellow journalist mentioned that he ran his diesel-powered Ford truck on B99 every summer. Kapp nearly choked on his coffee when he heard that one of his trucks was being powered by 99% biodiesel a few months out of the year. I was surprised that he was surprised — he was in eco-conscious Portland, after all.

Inspired by Willie Nelson’s commitment to biodiesel and the cross-country races of the ’60s and ’70s, Nik Bristow and a partner will bomb non-stop from New York to L.A. in a biodiesel-powered Jetta starting September 22. The trick? They’re going to do the Willie Run, as they call it, on one tank of Bio Willie fuel.

While biodiesel does get good mpgs, it doesn’t get 3,000 miles per tank. That’s why, according to Autobloggreen.com’s interview with Bristow, the Jetta has been outfitted with a huge spare fuel tank, just like the Cannonball Run guys used to do.

The Willie One, as the Jetta has been dubbed, has plenty of room for sponsors’ names. So if you’ve always wanted to see a car with your name on it but don’t have the $300,000 to slap a sticker on Dale Jr.’s car, this is your chance. Sponsorship of the Willie One starts at five bucks.