There’s power in biofuel! The Ferrari team finished one-two at the opening Formula One Grand Prix of the season in Bahrain over the weekend.
Sure, that’s sports news, but what also makes this feed, fuel and farm news is that these race cars were powered by an experimental biofuel made from Eastern Ontario wheat straw.
Shell and Iogen Energy have been producing cellulosic ethanol at a demonstration plant in the Ottawa area – which I first wrote about almost a year ago in this post.
Cellulosic ethanol works to create fuel out of agricultural waste products – like wheat straw or corn stalks – that wouldn’t normally be used.
Ethanol and biofuels have been heavily promoted as a renewable alternative to petroleum that could lessen our dependence on fossil fuels. But diverting corn into fuel production has helped drive up the cost of food and animal feed and critics have clamoured for a better solution.
Photo source: Ferrari website
Love the fact Agco is linking to this story from its twitter page when the piece is illustrated by a Ferrari pic. Ferrari is, of course, a member of the Fiat Group alongside Agco’s competing tractor brands New holland, Case IH (and Steyr).