When IndyCar racers take up the Ethanol banner, you know things are changing – fast.
The 2007 season IndyCar Series is underway powered by Ethanol. The cars feature a new Honda designed engine and run on 100% Ethanol. All 17 races on line for 2007 will be run on Ethanol, including the Grandaddy of all American races, the
The specially modified engines from Honda are designed with higher compression to take advantage of Ethanol’s very high octane rating. Drivers are noticing the difference, “These cars have a lot more torque,” said Driver Marco Andretti, “They just jump out of the turns.”
“The IndyCar Series switch to ethanol has been great. We are definitely on the right path with ethanol. There is more power with the new [3.5-liter Honda Indy V-8] engine. It runs clean and it is better for the environment. So it is a win-win situation, and that is great for the series. Ethanol is another alternative to gasoline. If we can show that the IndyCar Series cars can run ethanol, then it is good for everyone’s street cars.”
—Tony Kanaan, 2004 IndyCar champion
The Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC) is working on a national marketing campaign around a partnership with the IndyCar Series. With both farmers and now Nascar fans getting behind Ethanol the market demand may outstrip our production capacity.
We have covered Ethanol in many previous posts. The SDU position on Ethanol is that we need to develop Cellulosic Ethanol instead of corn based ethanol. One promising technology is the MixAlco process for making Cellulosic Ethanol. MixAlco can make most of the fuel we need from agricultural waste, municipal solid waste and sewage sludge. If I were an investor, Venture Capitalist or just wealthy, I’d invest in the MixAlco process.
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