Biomedical Engineering Reference
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use of 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels by 2022, which many
translate into a mandate for corn ethanol and cellulosic ethanol.
Actually, methanol produced from renewable biomass feedstocks
will count too, and may make more sense (and cents).
The State of California often seems like the conscious of the global
automotive industry, pushing for the market introduction of more
efficient and cleaner vehicle technologies. We can trace this history
back to the late 1970s when the California Energy Commission began
testing dedicated methanol-fueled vehicles. Operating vehicles on neat
methanol had its benefits and drawbacks. These dedicated vehicles
would take advantage of methanol's higher octane content (100 octane
for methanol versus 87-94 for gasoline) by using higher compression
ratios to increase fuel efficiency and dramatically reduce emissions.
There were problems with cold-starting vehicle on neat methanol and
concerns with the visibility of methanol flames in bright, sunlight
conditions. By the early 1980s, the effort turned to methanol FFVs
capable of running on a blend of up to 85% methanol and 15% gasoline
(called M-85) in the same fuel tank. The use of M-85 assisted with cold
starting and imparted visibility to methanol flames. The real drive
behind FFV technology was to help overcome the problem of limited
availability of methanol fueling stations in the early years of the
program. The objective was to introduce large numbers of methanol
FFVs, build a broad fueling infrastructure network, then transition back
to dedicated methanol vehicles.
With encouragement from the state, a series of initiatives led to the
demonstration of 18 different models of methanol-fueled cars from a
dozen automakers. The state also established a methanol fuel reserve
and entered into 10-year leases with gasoline retailers for the establish-
ment of a network of 60 public retail methanol-fueling pumps and 45
private fleet-accessible fueling facilities. Over 15,000 methanol FFVs
would find a home on California's streets and freeways, along with
hundreds of methanol-fueled transit and school buses. During the peak
of the program in 1993, over 12 million gallons of methanol was used as
a transportation fuel in the state. Through these efforts, FFVs were
developed as a largely inexpensive “off-the-shelf” technology, and the
challenges of dispensing alcohol fuels were solved. In addition, fearing
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