Is General Motors Hedging It’s Bets And Talking A Load Of Rubbish?

At the recent Detroit motor show General Motors were talking rubbish!

Household rubbish, that is. They are backing a system to turn garbage into bio-fuel. Instead of going to environmentally unfriendly rubbish tips, it would be delivered to reprocessing centres where micro-organisms (bugs) would turn it into ethanol fuel.

General Motors has entered into a deal with US bio-tech firm Coskata to produce ethanol at about 50p a GALLON. (Good name Coskata - sounds like cost cutter)

With oil now at around $100 a barrel that's quite a saving as a barrel is 42 US gallons (about 35 Imp gall. or 159 litres). According to the company it can make 100 gallons of ethanol per ton of rubbish and Cosaka President Bill Roe has said that a pilot plant will open later in the year with a plant capable of producing up to 100 million gallons a year on stream by 2011. The expected build programme is 20 - 25 fuel plants a year worldwide with one in the UK within 5 years.

GM Chairman Rick Wagoner said, "It can use almost any source material - including agricultural waste, municipal waste, plastics and old tyres,"

There are already millions of cars which are running on bio-fuel and, to the surprise of show-goers, even Ferrari unveiled an ethanol powered prototype.

Subject to environmental concerns being allayed, this sounds like a great idea.

Needless to say, the tax man will also be watching with interest!

At the same Detroit Motor Show Chevrolet was showing off it's new Equinox 4 x 4 SUV. This is a hydrogen cell powered prototype that has already cost over £1 billion to develop.

Hydrogen is one of the most plentiful elements on the planet and is the main constituent of water. It is about the cleanest of fuels but lots of people remember the horrific pictures of the Hindenburg disaster. However, engineers say that it is safer than the current petrol (Gasoline).

It will be interesting to see which fuel wins out in the end - remember 8 track car stereo systems and Betamax video?