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"  The sun may be setting on corn-based ethanol as Detroit revs up with cellulosic ethanol concept cars and tech investments. (Photograph by Getty Images) DETROIT -- There&amp;#039;s been a lot of talk about ethanol lately, most of it not very positive. But you wouldn&amp;#039;t know it from the E85 buzz here at the show. Most of the backlash comes from the simple fact that corn-based ethanol production doesn&amp;#039;t make sense financially--the numbers just don&amp;#039;t add up. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory says as much, flat out: &amp;quot;Today, 1 Btu of fossil energy consumed in producing and delivering corn ethanol results in 1.3 Btu of usable energy in your fuel tank.&amp;quot; And even that modest payback may be overstated. Skeptics cite the research of Cornell University professor David Pimentel, who estimates that it takes approximately 1.3 gal. of oil to produce a single gallon of ethanol. But there&amp;#039;s a silver lining to this rather gray outlook (besides the new biofuel rides described in our slide show below and throughout the show): Coskata, a startup biofuel company, has developed a new cellulosic process that can make ethanol from almost any carbon-rich source--including old tires--for less than $1 a gallon. That would be about half as much as making gasoline, and much cheaper than other next-generation biofuels. And that&amp;#039;s what got General Motors to invest bigtime. Widely touted as the future of biofuels production, cellulosic ethanol is made from a non-food source. The main ingredient is cellulose, a structural material that is found in nearly every plant, tree and bush--without much agricultural effort or cost required to make it grow. The process of turning it into ethanol is essentially identical to corn or sugar ethanol, but the input needs more processing. The Coskata process relies on gasification and patented microorganisms. The three-step conversion process turns virtually any carbon-based feedstock--including biomass, municipal solid waste and a variety of agricultural waste--into ethanol, making production a possibility in almost any geography. The technology is ethanol-specific and enzyme independent, requiring no additional chemicals or pre-treatments. Currently, the majority of ethanol produced in the United States is made from corn grain. Right now, it costs at least twice as much to make ethanol from cellulosic feedstocks than from corn. Those high costs have thus far limited expansion of the technology beyond the demonstration phase, but an injection of government funding has sped the process recently. The new energy bill signed into law by President Bush may be hanging a cloud over Detroit with new CAFE standards, but it should drive a billion-dollar domestic business for low-emissions domestic ethanol made from sources other than corn--though it could take nearly a decade to go from the lab into car tanks. The bill calls for the blending of 36 billion gallons per year of domestic alternative fuels like ethanol, a five-fold increase, into motor fuels by 2022. Cellulosic ethanol plants should come on line by 2010 or 2011, and the industry remains poised to meet a U.S. government goal to increase biofuel usage five-fold by 2022. Why is all of this so promising? It means cheap fuel that will be readily available to the American public because the infrastructure is already in place. There&amp;#039;s a fuel station on almost every corner here in the States. Since the distribution chain for gas and ethanol are the same, the infrastructure to sell it are already in place--unlike, say, hydrogen. Plus, E85-powered cars are widely available around the world. So there&amp;#039;s already a built-in demand. All of this &amp;quot;optimism&amp;quot; hinges on the answer to one simple question: Will this new cellulosic process deliver on its promises?  We&amp;#039;ll know soon enough, but in the meantime, click on for just a few of the more unique E85 rides on display here in Detroit ...     RELATED STORIES * OP-ED: PM&amp;#039;s Editor on Washington&amp;#039;s Ethanol Fallacy  * ANALYSIS: Shadow of New CAFE Law Pushes Detroit Even Greener  * DRIVE GREEN: Special Reports &amp;amp;amp; Test Drives From Our Alt-Fuel Future    Ferrari F430 Biofuel Concept  Even though it&amp;#039;s not exactly known for being green, this high-performance Italian automaker has been experimenting with ethanol for a long time. In fact, the Italian stallions have been using ethanol to power our race cars for years. It&amp;#039;s technically a concept, but Ferrari does want to cut its emissions by 40 percent by 2012, so this one might be in the pipeline. We&amp;#039;d rather see a hybrid Ferrari that could potentially improve acceleration--and fuel economy.     RELATED STORIES * OP-ED: PM&amp;#039;s Editor on Washington&amp;#039;s Ethanol Fallacy  * ANALYSIS: Shadow of New CAFE Law Pushes Detroit Even Greener  * DRIVE GREEN: Special Reports &amp;amp;amp; Test Drives From Our Alt-Fuel Future    Saab 9-4x BioPower Concept  Powered by a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder that produces 300 hp and 295 lb.-ft. of torque, the 9-4X should average a combined 22.4 mpg. According to GM, the BioPower engine represents the first time that turbocharging, direct injection and variable valve timing have been used in conjunction with high-octane E85 fuel. Zero-to-60 acceleration is expected to come in at around 7.9 seconds with the concept&amp;#039;s six-speed automatic transmission. But horsepower and torque figures drop to 245 and 261, respectively, when running on conventional gasoline.     RELATED STORIES * OP-ED: PM&amp;#039;s Editor on Washington&amp;#039;s Ethanol Fallacy  * ANALYSIS: Shadow of New CAFE Law Pushes Detroit Even Greener  * DRIVE GREEN: Special Reports &amp;amp;amp; Test Drives From Our Alt-Fuel Future    Hummer HX Concept  It&amp;#039;s powered by a E85-compatible V6, which makes it the first Hummer product not powered by a V8. Is this the nose of the camel under the edge of the tent? Is the traditional American Rip-snorting V8 a dinosaur? When even such a gas-squandering, I-don&amp;#039;t-care icon like Hummer goes downsizing, we can feel the ground not shaking anymore.  RELATED STORIES * OP-ED: PM&amp;#039;s Editor on Washington&amp;#039;s Ethanol Fallacy  * ANALYSIS: Shadow of New CAFE Law Pushes Detroit Even Greener  * DRIVE GREEN: Special Reports &amp;amp;amp; Test Drives From Our Alt-Fuel Future    "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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