Ethanol Runs with the Pack at Le Mans

[Bdog]

http://www.solaraccess.com/news/story?storyid=7218

Suffolk, United Kingdom - July 28, 2004 The description might sound like a bad joke, but the DM139 LMP1, Judd V10 is fast and black and "green" all over. So fast, in fact, that the Nasamax racing team placed 17th out of 26 cars to finish at this year's Le Mans 24 hour race with the DM139, which runs entirely on bioethanol fuel. It was the second year the team qualified for international motor sport race, but the first year the drivers took it to the line to become the first team to place with a car run on alternative fuels.

ASTEK is a research and development company that specializes in renewable and sustainable technologies. They have developed technology for the use of alternative fuels in internal combustion engines, and methods for the production of bioethanol from cellulosic materials. Fuel for the DM139 engine is made from sugar beets and potatoes grown in Northern France.

[TO Kid]

1. This is news?

Ethanol has been the racing fuel of choice for decades, primarily because it's safer in a crash than gasoline. It ain't exactly "green" because ethanol production uses more energy than it delivers.

[Bdog]

2. Making ethanol has a net energy gain

Just like all biomass.

[Massacure]

3. Ethanol is energy positive if it is done right.

Using corn that was grown with a lot of fertilizer, pesticides and herbicides isn't the most effective way to make ethanol.