Ottawa-made biofuel fuels Ferrari racing team victories
The Canadian Press
Date: Monday Mar. 15, 2010 6:55 AM ET

OTTAWA — Call it going with the grain -- and pretty darn fast at that.

An experimental biofuel made from Eastern Ontario straw helped propel the Ferrari team to the top two finishes in a Formula One auto race in Bahrain on Sunday.

The special concoction, known as cellulosic ethanol, was produced by Shell and Iogen Energy at a demonstration plant in Ottawa using local wheat stalks.

Shell has been working with legendary Scuderia Ferrari since last year to come up with a mixture that meets new racing regulations which demand a small percentage of oxygenated fuel such as ethanol.

Cellulosic ethanol is touted as sustainable because it is made from plant waste and results in substantially lower greenhouse gas emissions than conventional gasoline.

Jeff Passmore, executive vice-president of Iogen, was happy and relieved to see Ferrari do so well with the new Shell V-Power mixture in its maiden race.

"Great results, finishing first and second -- I don't think we could've asked for anything better," he said.

"I watched all 49 laps of the race today."

Shell and Iogen plan to build a commercial cellulosic ethanol plant in Saskatchewan.

But Passmore says the fuel is a few years away from widespread use.

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