American Le Mans Series Goes Cellulosic :: The EDJE

North American racing enthusiasts have long known the benefits of using the renewable energy fuel, Corn Based Ethanol … beginning with CART (when open-wheel racing was unified) and its current form Champ Car World Series and Indianapolis Racing League. Its main benefit as a racing fuel is that the fuel can be diluted with water, making it much easier to control should a spill happen through the action of a pit stop.

Newman/ Haas/
Lanigan Racing’s #2 DP01 race car in technical inspection on day two of
qualifications for the 2008 Long Beach Grand Prix. The car driven by Graham
Rahal, son of racing legend Bobby Rahal, is one of two American-born drivers
to compete in the Champ Car World Series for 2008. The other driver is Alex
Figge driving car #29 for Pacific Coast
Motorsports. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (… notes from The EDJE) -
2007

This year will see the first series to introduce the
exclusive use of a greener form of Ethanol. The American Le Mans
Series full bodied sport car racing series that will be here for their third
race of a twelve race
season, at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long
Beach, April 18-20, 2008, will run the full year on Cellulosic Ethanol.

Cellulosic
Ethanol, while chemically the same as ethanol made from a food source
(Corn), uses fermented and converted fiber material from grasses, landscape yard
waste, twigs, and the waste husks from Corn to make a more efficient form of
biofuel. Many believe that this process approach will become the future biofuel
process to allow reduced dependence on petroleum based fuels for everyday
use.

Cellulosic Ethanol is just what
Corvette Racing will be using to power their C6.R racing cars this season. The
C6.R competes in the GT1 class, which features production-based sportscars that
have then been highly modified. Image Credit: ARS Technica

This excerpted from ARS Technica -

Cellulosic
ethanol makes its racing debut
By Jonathan M. Gitlin | Published: February 12, 2008 - 03:01PM CT

It might seem odd for someone who
writes about climate change to be a racing fan, but no one ever said life was
uncomplicated. Concern for the environment and a desire to see cars run flat out
around a track aren't necessarily mutually exclusive, as car companies and
racing teams test new automotive technology in the crucible that is the race
track.

Most major racing
series, mindful of the need to put out a more green image, have plans in the
works to make their industry a little more environmentally
friendly.
----
But if you're looking for a racing series that best
advances automotive technology, you need to be watching the American Le Mans
Series.

A series that runs in
the US with rules (mainly)
written by the organizers of the 24-hour race at Le Mans, the ALMS is a series for sports cars,
from the production-based GT1 and GT2 classes to the exotic, carbon-fiber bodied
P1 and P2 prototype classes. Audi and Peugeot have been contesting the P1 class
with a pair of prototypes (the R10 and 908) that both feature V12 diesel
engines, and most other competitors are using a biofuel ethanol/gasoline blend.

However, although
corn's use as a biofuel has been touted frequently by politicians (who may or
may not have been campaigning in Iowa), it is becoming more and more obvious that
corn-based
ethanol is not
the panacea once thought. Cellulosic ethanol, on the other hand, doesn't
involve taking food and converting it to fuel. And that's just what Corvette
Racing are going to be using to power their C6.R racing cars this season. The
C6.R competes in the GT1 class, which features production-based sportscars that
have then been highly modified. Earlier today, I got a chance to speak to team
boss Doug Feehan about the fuel switch for 2008.

Feehan explained to me
that they feel cellulosic ethanol, supplied by KL Process Design Group,
represents the second generation of biofuels, and the team wants to be on the
forefront of the industry as they move away from corn-based biofuels to more
environmentally sound sources. The C6.Rs will use the biofuel in the ALMS
series, but not at Le
Mans this summer, where they hope to make last year's
Aston Martin victory a one-off. The seven-liter V8 engines are quite happy using
the E85 fuel, but fuel consumption is around 20-25 percent worse than gasoline.
It is expected that the sport's sanctioning body will require GT cars that
aren't using E85 to fit smaller gas tanks to compensate.

You'll be able to see for yourself how the switch is
going at the first race of the season, The 12 Hours of Sebring, which will be
held March 12 through 15, and later in the season, we hope to have a look at the
car in person and report how they're getting on. For racing to continue to be
relevant, it has to respond to the world around us, and, as far as the ALMS
goes, it seems to be responding well.
Reference
Here>>

... notes from The EDJE