Cellulosic Ethanol: Escaping the Food vs. Fuel Debate

The biofuel arm of the clean energy movement is one clouded with confusion, misinformation and a lot of "I don't know what that means" kind of names.

Here is how biofuel conversations tend to go with my friends:

Friend 1: What exactly is the definition of a "biofuel?"

Friend 2: It's, like, fuel that's organic or something. You know, like fuel that's good for the earth.

Friend 1: Like wind?

Friend 2: No, like gas that is made from plants or something, or like how you can get the old french fry grease from McDonald's and run your car on it- my friend from up north did that- he retrofitted his BMW to run on cooking oil and drove across the state just stopping at McDonalds! No, I'm serious...

Today, the conversation would be slightly more on topic, or maybe just slightly more full of posturing and making stuff up:

Friend 1: Dude, what's cellulosic ethanol?

Friend 2: I think ethanol is when you make gas out of corn.

Friend 1: Really? Well what's the cellulosic part?

Friend 2: Isn't cellulose what women are always complaining about?

Friend 1: Maybe it's like the cells of corn or something.

Friend 2: Does it come from Beverly Hills?

Ok, bottom line is nobody has heard this term and conversations are likely to bounce fruitlessly between the folks who want to think they know what it means and the folks who sincerely want to know what it actually, really means.

Shell said in a press release earlier this week that they were unveiling gasoline that contains advanced biofuel made from wheat straw: cellulosic ethanol. There you have it.

Two Shell executives flew to a strip mall gas station in Ottawa, Canada to celebrate the introduction of the biofuel option there.

So what's so great about Cellulosic ethanol? The hubub is that it is made from agricultural and forestry waste, not crops- thus, it is touted as a way to get around the food vs. fuel debate that sometimes crops up (ow!) in debates about whether to use corn to produce fuel for cars.

Several gas manufacturers in Canada have experimented with cellulose ethanol in the past, and there is some debate around whether Shell is truly offering the first opportunity for people to put wheat straw infused, corn-based fuel (oh wait, I think that was the smoothie I had for breakfast...) into their cars.

Regardless, the selection of biofuels that are chipping away at the monopoly of pure petroleum gas is exciting and will continue to change the way we travel.

Keep your ear to the wind...