Rick
Wagoner's biofuel credibility
Monday,
June 11, 2007
Rick
Wagoner and Bob Lutz shake hands at the Volt debut
So, Rick Wagoner wants to push the focus of Congress
from fuel economy to biofuels? He his a master of such
distractions - he helped make Congress believe in fuel
cell vehicles, rather than hybrids, plug-in
hybrids and electric vehicles for many years.
Kudos, Rick.
Nonetheless, many disagree with Rick's biofuel's
assessment. Current E85, many claim, is good mostly for
farmer subsidies and business tax credits. Sure E85 helps
fund much more promising cellulosic ethanol research and
development, but many experts claim such ethanol is at
least a decade away.
So, can biofuels really help that much in the next decade?
Is Rick again making excuses, as he did with his fuel cell
delay tactic? Is he just plain wrong? Is he right?
Just a few years ago, Rick Wagoner ridiculed Toyota and
Honda for developing hybrid
cars. Fuel cells, he claimed, were just a couple of
years off. A few years later, the Toyota
Prius has become one of not just Toyota's best selling
vehicles - but one of the best selling vehicles in
America.
Nice call, Rick.
Are biofuels now the replacement for decades of fuel cell
lies?
I agree that biofuels have incredible potential. Still,
bio-fueled plug-in hybrid vehicles have far more potential
and such vehicles could easily be achievable by 2020. Even
GM has already developed a production-ready Saab
bio hybrid concept, and if the Chevy
Volt is possible within three years - then a
cost-effective biofueled Volt can't be more than 10 years
away.
So, where is the vision?
posted
by Dahcredyns at
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