World’s Top Eco-Car Wins Using Ethanol Inbicon Makes From Straw

SKAERBAEK, Denmark, July 18, 2011 -

Inbicon has revealed a frugal new customer for the cellulosic
ethanol made from straw at its Inbicon Biomass Refinery in
Kalundborg. The biofuel powered the winning car in the Urban
Concepts class of the 2011 Shell Eco-marathon in Europe, setting a
new record at 1,197 miles per gallon (509 km/l), adjusted for
energy equivalence with gasoline.

“The Roadrunners team from the Technical University of Denmark
designed, built, tuned, tested, and drove the Dynamo to victory
over all 35 European teams competing. And they also beat North
America and Asia’s winning mileage,” says Christian Morgen, Inbicon
manager of international marketing. “Since they use only a liter at
a time, I don’t believe there’s any danger of depriving Danish
retail customers of our eco-friendly fuel.”

The New Ethanol, as Inbicon calls its made-from-straw biofuel,
has been produced by the Kalundborg plant since late 2009. But this
was its first performance with the Danish university team.
 

Each year Jesper Schramm, a DTU associate professor, begins a
course in combustion engineering whose five-day grand finale is
May’s racing in the Shell Eco-marathon. Six out of the last seven
years, his students have won Grand Prize for energy efficiency in
one of the two main categories. Urban Concept cars, with minor
safety modifications, could actually operate on city streets,
whereas drivers lie down in Prototype cars.  

Professor Schramm’s team used a 50cc 4-stroke Yamaha moped
engine, whose higher compression takes advantage of the fuel’s
higher octane. And they use wind-tunnel testing to sculpt the body
for improved aerodynamic performance. The Dynamo ran 28% farther
than its closest competitor.

Over 3,000 students on 187 teams from 27 countries took part at
the EuroSpeedway in Lausitz, Germany. For the DTU Roadrunners, what
they experience and achieve will help launch some graduates into
careers in automotive design and engineering, according to
Professor Schramm.

The Inbicon Biomass Refinery at Kalundborg, says Morgen, is the
company’s model for a commercial-scale launch of a new green-energy
industry in North America, Europe, and Asia. The Inbicon Biomass
Refineries with be integrated with other technologies to
efficiently convert corn stalks, wheat straw, and other biomass
into The New Ethanol, green electricity, and higher-value green
chemistry products.

Inbicon is a subsidiary of DONG Energy, a leading Northern
European energy company.

Thomas Corle, +1-717-626-0557, tcorle at biopowered.biz; Photo available