The cost for biofuel made from corn cobs, dried stalks and the leaves of cereal crops) could drop to just $1.50 per gallon -- without subsidies -- as the result of a successful trial of a newly developed process for converting feed stock to fuel, Phys.org reports.
According to a piece written by Bob Yirka, the process was developed by Cool Planet Energy Systems of Camarillo, and the fuel is currently being field tested by Google in its fleet vehicles.
Cool Planet creates fuel by pressing feedstock between plates under high pressure, and then placing the plates in a device called a "fractionator."
This process results in a release of a gas which is then captured and then converted, using catalysts, to a liquid. The resultant fuel is mixed with gasoline.
Yirka reports that in tests completed to date, Cool Planet has used a mixture composed of 5 percent biofuel and 95 percent gasoline.
Google fleet vehicles—part of its GRide on-demand campus vehicle program—have traveled 2,400 miles on this mixture to-date.
In other testing, Cool Planet fueled one car with the biofuel mixture and a control car with 100 percent gasoline and found that the test-fueled car met the Low Carbon Fuel Standard California has set for 2020.
They also ran both cars though five smog tests and found no measurable differences between them.
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