As Felipe Massa plants the new Ferrari F10 on the front row in Bahrain, Shell has revealled that the fuel that powers the cars this year contains a biofuels component derived from cellulosic ethanol, an advanced biofuel made from straw. This will be the first time an advanced biofuel has been used in the Shell V-Power race fuel used by technical partner Ferrari, in Formula One.

Cellulosic ethanol, as an end fuel, is identical to ethanol but it can offer up to 90 percent less lifecycle CO2 emissions than gasoline.  It is a key part of Shell’s strategic investment and development programme in sustainable biofuels.

The cellulosic ethanol was produced at Iogen Energy’s demonstration plant in Ottawa, Canada, using non-food wheat straw and advanced conversion processes. Shell and Iogen are partners in the plant, which produced more than 500,000 litres of cellulosic ethanol last year. Shell has been working closely together with Scuderia Ferrari since the middle of last year to develop a fuel that meets the new FIA regulations and maximises performance for the 2010 season.

Shell and Iogen Energy are working towards construction of a full-scale commercial cellulosic ethanol plant in Saskatchewan, Canada. The proposed project has met a number of significant milestones and the feasibility and design assessment work are well advanced.