General Motors (GM), which has committed to making half its cars ethanol-compatible by 2012, accelerated its alternative fuel interests on Thursday by investing in its second biofuel program since the beginning of the year.
GM said it was putting an unspecified amount of money into a New Hampshire-based company, Mascoma, which is working on turning papermill waste, corn stalks, wood chips and switchgrass into fuel.
In January, the world’s largest automotive maker unveiled plans to buy a stake in biofuel company Coskata Inc, a pioneer in efforts to convert waste into cheap ethanol.
Neither company uses grains such as corn to produce ethanol.
The US government has backed a huge increase in the production of corn and other grains for ethanol, a move that has been blamed for contributing to soaring food prices.
Mascoma says it is developing a “new generation of microbes” or bacteria which can break down the cellulose fibers that have been the major hurdle in using wood, straw, paper pulp and other agricultural waste products such as cornstalks for fuel.
It has also patented a process that uses heat and mechanical action to treat the cellulose in an economical manner.
“Processing ethanol from cellulosic biomass minimizes the environmental impact of fuel ethanol production,” Mascoma said on its Web site.
Other bacteria that it has developed convert sugars to ethanol.
In a statement from the two companies, GM president Fritz Henderson said the technologies of Mascoma and Coskata “represent what we see as the best in the cellulosic ethanol future and cover the spectrum in science and commercialization.”
“Demonstrating the viability of sustainable non-grain based ethanol is critical to developing the infrastructure to support the flex-fuel vehicle market,” he said.
GM head Rick Wagoner in January unveiled plans to bring 16 new hybrid models on the market within four years.
In the hybrid battle, GM has focused on developing technology for cars with batteries that can be recharged from regular electric sockets.
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
TIT-FOR-TAT: The US allegedly revoked the visa of a Chinese national working at Xinhua News Agency in the US in response to Beijing’s expulsion of Vivian Wang The Presidential Office yesterday condemned China for expelling a New York Times correspondent from Beijing following the newspaper’s interview with President William Lai (賴清德), saying the move highlighted Beijing’s suppression of press freedom and its threat to international news media. Taiwan has noted a series of recent incidents in which Beijing used similar tactics to “threaten and pressure international media outlets and journalists,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said in a statement. “This concerns not only press freedom and freedom of expression, but also the safety of journalists, and Taiwan and relevant partners are paying close attention to the situation,” she
NOT IMMEDIATE: Taiwan has a chance to appeal the proposed 10 percent tariff before it starts, while other countries face a 12.5 percent tariff from the trade office Taiwan is among 60 economies determined by the US to have failed to impose or enforce a ban on the importation of goods produced with forced labor, according to a notice released on Tuesday by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), which proposed imposing an additional 10 percent or more tariff on them. The USTR in a statement said that following an investigation, it had determined under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 that the failure of the 60 economies to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor is
RSS