We’ve been critical of Brazil’s ethanol industry before, what with the myriad human rights/environmental issues and all, but we still find ourselves glad that they’re helping us with cellulosic ethanol research - according to Reuters, the U.S. National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) and Brazil’s Center for Research and Development (CENPES) “will join forces to speed up research into cellulose-derived biofuels.” In addition to speeding up progress in our countries, this alliance plans to help developing nations in Africa, Central America, and the Caribbean with their emerging biofuel industries.

Brazil, we’re certain, is pushing to team up with us because their own ethanol industry was hit by the global credit crunch pretty hard and they need to lean on our (generally speaking) more stable economy. But the more heads we put together on this research, the better, and hopefully the president-elect won’t allow us to depend on foreign ethanol the way we’ve depended on foreign oil in decades past. Plus, America and Brazil are the biggest ethanol producers on the planet, so it was only a matter of time before we combined forces in some capacity. And who knows, maybe their enthusiasm for flex-fuel cars will rub off on us.

Once again the forces of industry are outdone by bored teenagers - Luke LaBorde, an 18-year-old boy in San Antonio, TX, converted a gas-powered Bradley kit car to run on electric power, for a mere $18,000 (which, in car money, is a drop in the bucket). The car can go about 40 miles per charge (each charge uses less than a dollar’s worth of electricity), at a top speed of 55 mph, and runs on “an electric motor driven by eight lead-acid batteries.” LaBorde figures that, all said, it took about 150 hours to complete, spread out over three months.

Bradley cars, for the uninitiated, included the GT, Scorpion and GT II,  and could be bought as parts to be assembled by the purchaser. LaBorde bought his on eBay, of course, and got help from his hydraulics-repairman dad, but had never built or converted a car before undertaking this project. In fact, he doesn’t see it as much more than a hobby. But hopefully the major automotive companies were paying attention to this, because it will be brought up the next time they complain about the cost or timeliness of electric vehicles.

So yeah, about that whole “posting later in the week” thing. Technically, we’re still on the up-and-up, since it’s only been 5 days since our last post and a week is 7 days long. And since this is our blog and we’re free to hedge our own scheduling inconsistencies as we see fit, we’ll leave it at that.

The economic climate has cast a pretty big shadow on ethanol’s future, and much of the reporting on the subject has been little more than “I-told-you-so” juvenile glee; the Wall Street Journal blogs, for example, ran a story on Nov. 3rd about how ethanol has already washed up dead on the beach, and only a total nincompoop wouldn’t have seen this coming. Hell, the reporter sounds happier about diminishing ethanol investment than her own sources do.

The Globe and Mail was even less objective, celebrating the news that “an industry that should never have thrived is getting its comeuppance.” The headline for their item is “Ethanol producers’ unworthy heyday finally over,” just in case anyone didn’t know where they stood on the issue. We’re surprised they didn’t include a picture of their editorial staff setting fire to a heap of corn cobs, their middle fingers extended towards the camera.

Neither item considers cellulosic ethanol and the huge strides made in its development as a legitimate biofuel, and the Globe and Mail clings onto the “ethanol raises food prices” fallacy, while shaking its fist at the ethanol lobby as though oil companies never have their phone calls returned from DC. They’re right that ethanol is on shaky ground, like many other industries are, but to ignore any and all advances made in favor of resistance based on vastly overstated data is absurd. So if you meet any of these people on the bus or something, send them here. And link them to this recent ethanol study while you’re at it.

A more substantive, on-topic post is on the way, but we felt like popping in and congratulating Barack Obama on his truly historic presidential win. This is a big moment for America, and we feel lucky to be here for it.

If we can indulge our self-interest for just a minute, this is also a pivotal moment for ethanol, and biofuels in general. The economy has hit the ethanol industry hard (which we’ll post about later in the week), and while Obama has pledged his support for continuing to develop the technology, only time will tell what resources, if any, he can put towards this goal. But unless the Green Party or a similar organization can put together a coherent, workable plan for sustaining ethanol production (which isn’t likely), Obama’s all we’ve got.

Here’s to a good 4 years.