Honda has teamed up with a Japanese research firm to develop a new way of producing ethanol fuel. Previously made from either corn or sugarcane, ethanol has been an increasing hot topic among automakers, environmentalists and politicians, but overall it is still costly to produce with little infrastructure in the United States.
Honda has at least figured out the production problem. Converting corn and sugarcane into ethanol yielded little fuel given the amount of raw material used, and it also saps food stocks. The new method uses inedible and discarded plant material and is vastly more efficient. Honda is planning to produce an ethanol-capable vehicle for the Brazilian market, but major U.S. automakers like Ford and General Motors already have hundreds of thousands of flex-fuel vehicles on the road now that can run on either ethanol or gasoline.
Honda hasn’t been promoting its ethanol plans, and the company is better known for its gasoline hybrids. One Honda spokesman said ethanol could account for 30% of fuel in the U.S. by 2025. If this new process can be widely adopted, we’re ready to believe that number.
[Honda Envisions Cars That Run on Leaves, Rice Straw, MarketWatch]
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