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Research & development
Enterprise Rent-A-Car Corporate Environmental Initiative
Renewable fuels: the funding and the need
In February 2007, the Taylor family, owners of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, made a significant commitment to further advance the research and development of alternative fuel technologies when they announced a $25 million grant to create the Institute for Renewable Fuels. Working in conjunction with one of the world’s leading plant science research facilities, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, the new Institute will seek to develop acceptable and affordable alternatives to finite fossil fuels by finding new ways to create fuel from renewable and reliable plant sources.
Biofuels have a lower environmental impact than fossil fuels because ethanol is made from corn, and biodiesel from soybeans, so when burned for fuel, they recycle carbon compounds that are already present in the environment. Because these biofuels are made from crops traditionally used for food, however, there is concern that increasing their use may decrease the world’s food supply. The Institute’s researchers will work to address this issue. One of their top priorities will be to increase the yields of corn and soybeans through biotechnology to meet the demand for food and animal feed while also providing the raw material for fuel. They will also work to discover ways to make fuel from corn stalks, switchgrass or other plentiful plant sources that do not impact food supplies.
