BP's CEO Tony Hayward said U.S. gasoline demand will never return to 2007's peak, the Wall Street Journal said, as greater use of biofuels and increased engine efficiency has slashed fossil fuel consumption.

Motor gasoline consumption dropped by 3.2 percent in 2008, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

BP is developing biobutanol and cellulosic ethanol. BP and enzyme developer Verenium Corp. have formed a joint venture called Vercipia with plans to build a 36-million-gallon cellulosic ethanol plant in Florida.

Verenium currently operates a 1.4 million-gallon cellulosic ethanol demonstration plant in Louisiana.

(Wall Street Journal, Nov. 19, 2009)
(http://online.wsj.com/…)

DTN: The summer of 2008 was full of mixed blessings. Gasoline prices were hovering around $4 a gallon, which meant that ethanol prices were fairly high as well. Now with the recent downturn in the economy and less demand for transportation fuel as a result, ethanol prices have not been as high as they were last year. However, ethanol producers have been fortunate that corn prices have come down significantly as well since the summer of 2008. DTN's national corn index (http://www.dtnethanolcenter.com/…) was $3.57 on Thursday. In 2008 corn prices hit has high as $8 a bushel in some areas. (Todd Neeley)