Google Tests Biofuel Car
(Environmental Leader) Google has been using Cool Planet Energy Systems’ biofuel blend to run a fleet vehicle at the search giant’s Mountain View, Calif. campus, according to the energy-tech startup.
…During the Google trial, a campus vehicle called GRide ran on Cool Planet’s biofuel for more than 2,400 miles. By running on a five percent Cool Planet “carbon-negative” fuel blended with 95 percent regular gasoline, the test car blend met California’s 2020 Low Carbon Fuel Standard more than seven years ahead of schedule, according to the company.
…Cool Planet’s proprietary two-step thermal processing technology takes non-food biomass such as wood chips, agricultural waste like corn stover, and energy crops including giant miscanthus and switch grass, and converts them into hydrocarbons.
A catalytic conversion then produces high-octane gasoline that the company says is fully compatible with today’s standard automobiles and existing conventional fuel distribution systems.
CEO Howard Janzen says Cool Planet’s gasoline is price competitive because the company mass produces mobile, prefabricated micro-refineries that are easily transportable to the biomass source.
…Janzen says each micro-refinery is 100 times smaller than a typical oil refinery and can produce 10 million gallons of fuel per year. READ MORE
