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FAST FACTS ABOUT ETHANOL
June 2008
Cellulosic Ethanol
- GM announced a strategic alliance and equity investment on May 1 with a second biofuels startup company. Boston-based Mascoma Corp. uses a biochemical process to make ethanol from wood and agricultural waste and is working on a process that will go directly from plant material to ethanol in a single step.
- Coskata will begin producing cellulosic ethanol from a Madison, Pa. pilot plant in 2009. It is still targeting a full-scale plant capable of 50 million to 100 million gallons annually coming on-line in 2011. (Coskata)
- Coskata’s process can convert each ton of dry feedstock into more than 100 gallons of low-cost ethanol. (Coskata)
- In the U.S. alone, there is more than 1 billion tons of biomass that can be converted into fuel annually. (USDA)
Reducing Oil Dependence
- NEW: The U.S. is starting to break its “addiction” to foreign oil as high prices, more efficient cars, and the use of ethanol significantly cut the share of its oil imports for the first time since 1977. U.S. foreign oil dependency is expected to fall from 60 percent to 50 percent in 2015, before rising again slightly to 54 per cent in 2030. (DOE)
- In 2007, the production and use of ethanol in the U.S. reduced oil imports by 228 million barrels, saving $16.5 billion from being sent to foreign countries. (Renewable Fuels Association; LECG, LLC)
- NEW: Biofuel production and use in the U.S. and Europe during the last three years has cut consumption of crude oil by 1 million barrels a day. (USDA)
- UPDATED: By 2030, enough biomass could be produced using existing farmland to offset oil consumption by 35 percent. (DOE; USDA)
Infrastructure
- UPDATED: There are more than 1,563 E85 ethanol fueling stations in the U.S. (National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition)
- Working with government, fuel providers and fuel retailers, GM has helped open more than 300 E85 fueling pumps at stations in 15 states and the District of Columbia since 2005. (GM)
Energy Use
- While E85 gets 20 to 25 percent fewer miles per gallon compared with gasoline, it is less expensive than gasoline in most parts of the country and has 96 octane compared with 87 octane for regular unleaded gasoline. Premium gasoline has less octane than E85 and sells at a higher price. (Clean Cities)
- Ethanol requires less energy to produce than it delivers as a fuel. Next generation cellulosic ethanol produced from switch grass generates 540 percent more energy than consumed in production. (USDA)
- Coskata’s cellulosic ethanol process generates up to 7.7 times as much energy as what is used to make the fuel compared to conventional gasoline. ( Argonne National Laboratory)
Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG)
- Cellulosic ethanol yields as much as 95 percent fewer GHG emissions compared with gasoline. ( Argonne National Laboratory)
- Average GHG from cellulosic ethanol derived from switch grass are 94 percent lower than estimated GHG from gasoline. (USDA; University of Nebraska)
Ethanomics
- NEW: According to a Merrill-Lynch study in London, the presence of ethanol in the fuel supply kept gasoline prices 15 percent lower than they would be without ethanol.
- A recent poll commissioned by the Renewable Fuels Now Coalition found that 80 percent of respondents say the government should give more incentives to encourage the development of renewable fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel. (Peter D. Hart Research Associates)
Contact:
Alan Adler
GM Biofuels Communications
Phone: 248-857-4218
Cell: 313-319-8486
E-mail: alan.adler@gm.com