Coskata employee with one of the company’s proprietary ‘Bioreactors’

WIRED’s Chuck Squatriglia has reported that a start-up, Coskata, a GM-backed company has found a way to convert almost any organic material, including municipal waste into ethanol using bacteria at a cost of US$1 per gallon! This translates into not more than 87 sen per litre in Malaysian currency!

Coskata uses existing gasification technology to convert almost any organic material into synthesis gas, which is a mix of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Coskata then pumps it into a ‘bioreactor’ containing bacteria that consume the gas and excrete ethanol, rather than fermenting the synthesis gas or using thermo-chemical catalysts to produce ethanol. Coskata is said to be the first company to combine the existing methods of gasification and bacterial conversion. The Coskata process merges the flexibility of gasification with the costs of bacterial conversion. The end result is a process which yields 99.7% pure ethanol.

In the motoring world Ethanol is now being mixed with gasoline (petrol) to produce E85. E85 is a 85%/25% ethanol/gasoline mix which is said to burn cleaner, which reduces green house gases. In October 2007, an episode of Orange County Choppers aired [LINK] which detailed the construction of an E85 powered motorcycle. American Green Holdings has also released an E85 powered bike, the Victory-based EcoOutlaw.

The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA), however, has expressed concern about ethanol-blended fuels, in an article in MotorcycleUSA.com. “The AMA supports the use of cleaner-burning fuels, but we are concerned about premature engine damage or failure while a bike is being ridden on a highway if the allowable level of ethanol is raised to 20 percent,” said Imre Szauter, AMA legislative affairs specialist. “We are also concerned about any degradation in performance, fuel economy and rideability that may result from the long-term use of blended fuels with greater than 10 percent ethanol.”

The AMA concerns stem from the fact that when burnt, ethanol creates more heat than burning conventional gasoline and this may lead to potential damage to motorcycle engines not originally designed to handle the additional heat load, especially air-cooled motorcycle engines. In addition, fuel systems (hoses, etc.) on bikes may be adversely affected by the corrosive effects of the higher concentrations of ethanol in E85 fuel.

If Coskata’s technologies are accepted worldwide, assuming the cost of the technology becomes affordable, will we see E85 powered vehicles, including motorcycles on the road soon? What do you think? Leave your comments below.

For more information on ethanol-blended fuel check out http://www.allsafe-fuel.org/

Brazil has had an ethanol fuel program since 1979. Over 1.5 million ethanol fuel cars have been produced since then.

SOURCE: WIRED, MOTORCYCLEUSA.COM, AMERICANGREENHOLDINGS, COSKATA

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Coskata employee with one of the company’s proprietary ‘Bioreactors’

WIRED’s Chuck Squatriglia has reported that a start-up, Coskata, a GM-backed company has found a way to convert almost any organic material, including municipal waste into ethanol using bacteria at a cost of US$1 per gallon! This translates into not more than 87 sen per litre in Malaysian currency!

Coskata uses existing gasification technology to convert almost any organic material into synthesis gas, which is a mix of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Coskata then pumps it into a ‘bioreactor’ containing bacteria that consume the gas and excrete ethanol, rather than fermenting the synthesis gas or using thermo-chemical catalysts to produce ethanol. Coskata is said to be the first company to combine the existing methods of gasification and bacterial conversion. The Coskata process merges the flexibility of gasification with the costs of bacterial conversion. The end result is a process which yields 99.7% pure ethanol.

In the motoring world Ethanol is now being mixed with gasoline (petrol) to produce E85. E85 is a 85%/25% ethanol/gasoline mix which is said to burn cleaner, which reduces green house gases. In October 2007, an episode of Orange County Choppers aired [LINK] which detailed the construction of an E85 powered motorcycle. American Green Holdings has also released an E85 powered bike, the Victory-based EcoOutlaw.

The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA), however, has expressed concern about ethanol-blended fuels, in an article in MotorcycleUSA.com. “The AMA supports the use of cleaner-burning fuels, but we are concerned about premature engine damage or failure while a bike is being ridden on a highway if the allowable level of ethanol is raised to 20 percent,” said Imre Szauter, AMA legislative affairs specialist. “We are also concerned about any degradation in performance, fuel economy and rideability that may result from the long-term use of blended fuels with greater than 10 percent ethanol.”

The AMA concerns stem from the fact that when burnt, ethanol creates more heat than burning conventional gasoline and this may lead to potential damage to motorcycle engines not originally designed to handle the additional heat load, especially air-cooled motorcycle engines. In addition, fuel systems (hoses, etc.) on bikes may be adversely affected by the corrosive effects of the higher concentrations of ethanol in E85 fuel.

If Coskata’s technologies are accepted worldwide, assuming the cost of the technology becomes affordable, will we see E85 powered vehicles, including motorcycles on the road soon? What do you think? Leave your comments below.

For more information on ethanol-blended fuel check out http://www.allsafe-fuel.org/

Brazil has had an ethanol fuel program since 1979. Over 1.5 million ethanol fuel cars have been produced since then.

SOURCE: WIRED, MOTORCYCLEUSA.COM, AMERICANGREENHOLDINGS, COSKATA

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