A petrol blend using 10% cellulosic ethanol went on sale in Ottawa today and will be trialled by Shell for the next month. The ethanol in the fuel is, says Shell, being produced locally from wheat straw at the Iogen Energy Corporation's demonstration plant. Iogen and Shell are partners in the plant, which now produces 40,000 litres of fuel per month.

The development of cellulosic ethanol and the current trial period is, explains the company, a key part of Shell’s strategic investment and development programme in sustainable biofuels.

"I am excited we are leading the pack in cellulosic ethanol production technology and, with this event, showing what is possible in the future," said Dr. Graeme Sweeney, Shell Executive Vice President Future Fuels and CO2.  "While it will be some time before general customers can buy this product at local service stations, we are working with governments to make large-scale production economic."

"We’re proud of this world-first," said Brian Foody, Chief Executive Officer of Iogen Corporation. "Building a demo plant is one thing but you then need to go through the process of operating the new technology at scale, learning, modifying and lowering costs.  With the volumes we're producing today, we're confident about the future."