JUNE 22, 2007

A move towards pump fuels in 2011

There seems to a move at the moment amongst the various parties involved to move the plans for 2011 away from the original idea of diesel turbos, towards a more conventional pump fuel with a percentage of biomass.

Solid biomass fuel such as wood has long been used by mankind but liquid biofuels, developed from sugars, vegetable oils and animal fats have only been around for the last 200 years. Much development was done on these fuels during World War II when conventional fuel was scarce, with Germany producing a blend of gasoline with alcohol fermented from potatoes, which was known as Reichskraftsprit and Britain, blending grain alcohol with petrol to produce a fuel known as Discol.

After the war, however, cheap Middle Eastern oil supplies meant that interest waned and it is only recently that rising oil prices and concerns over the environment has led to renewed research. The most common biofuels are ethanol and methanol.

Discussions continue and it will be interesting to see where the talks have got to by the end of the year when the plan is to have an engine formula for 2011 set.