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My thoughts are we should scrap ethanol and phase out the gas engine as our predominate power plant for our cars and trucks and embrace he diesel engine.
Bio fuels like Vegetable oil , soy, all burn cleaner than diesel fuel does and they do not have that smell associated with diesel fuel. They also burn much cleaner than diesel fuel.
I'm sure someone will figure out the gelling problems associated with them.
Why grow the 2 fuels?
This will take up even more farm land than if we agree to rethink our situation and go with one renewable fuel.
Ethanol is a boondoggle in the US. As one expert said, "We're burning up the last 6" of American topsoil in our cars." Making bio-diesel makes more sense, but it is no panacea, either.
If we have to make fuel out of something other than petroleum (and we are going to have to), refining diesel fuel out of coal makes the most sense. Ahead of all that, though, we should be reconfiguring our refining capacity to produce a greater percentage of diesel fuel, and embracing the diesel engine (as Europe has done) to improve the fuel efficiency of the American auto fleet. In any case, the exploding cost of fuel that is coming WILL lead us to rethink our very fuel-inefficient way of living (suburbia, etc.) within the next few years--that's already baked in the cake. None of the "alternative" fuel options available to us are going to be cheap--they all lead to much higher fuel costs going forward. There is no free lunch.
Remember, diesel is also in high deamnd in the winter as it and home heating oil compete. Gotta get people off of oil heat for their homes before there can be distillate resources for diesel, and biodiesel has a long way to go to become viable (can't wait to see what using cellulose for fuel gets us)
Ethanol is a boondoggle in the US. As one expert said, "We're burning up the last 6" of American topsoil in our cars." Making bio-diesel makes more sense, but it is no panacea, either.
If we have to make fuel out of something other than petroleum (and we are going to have to), refining diesel fuel out of coal makes the most sense. Ahead of all that, though, we should be reconfiguring our refining capacity to produce a greater percentage of diesel fuel, and embracing the diesel engine (as Europe has done) to improve the fuel efficiency of the American auto fleet. In any case, the exploding cost of fuel that is coming WILL lead us to rethink our very fuel-inefficient way of living (suburbia, etc.) within the next few years--that's already baked in the cake. None of the "alternative" fuel options available to us are going to be cheap--they all lead to much higher fuel costs going forward. There is no free lunch.
Are we running out of oil? And the cost of fuel is exploding? Suburbia is here to stay imo.
i wouldnt dump ethanol so quickly, but rather change what we use to make ethanol. for instance we should stop using corn for ethanol, and switch to something that has a much higher yield, like sugar or switch grass, or even algae. bio diesel is also a decent choice, and the nice thing about it is we can make it from used cooking oils. but we also need to liquefy coal, develop oil shale, etc. to obtain the energy we need to extend oil supplies, while at the same time we start changing over to something better. we do have time, but that is limited.
i wouldnt dump ethanol so quickly, but rather change what we use to make ethanol. for instance we should stop using corn for ethanol, and switch to something that has a much higher yield, like sugar or switch grass, or even algae. bio diesel is also a decent choice, and the nice thing about it is we can make it from used cooking oils. but we also need to liquefy coal, develop oil shale, etc. to obtain the energy we need to extend oil supplies, while at the same time we start changing over to something better. we do have time, but that is limited.
What the American sheeple can't get their arms around is that ANY alternative fuel is going to cost way more than what we are used to and what we have built our lifestyles around. We are addicted to CHEAP energy and all it will take (and it's already starting to happen) to derail our economy and lifestyle is for fuel no longer to be cheap. The only thing that has kept fuel prices from heading into the stratosphere of late has been that the economy has been in a semi-coma for a couple of years. We can keep fuel prices moderate (if one considers today's prices "moderate") only if the economy stays in that coma. If it improves, fuel prices will explode again. That's our future--even if we embrace alternative fuels. The cheap energy days are GONE.
i wouldnt dump ethanol so quickly, but rather change what we use to make ethanol. for instance we should stop using corn for ethanol, and switch to something that has a much higher yield, like sugar or switch grass, or even algae. bio diesel is also a decent choice, and the nice thing about it is we can make it from used cooking oils. but we also need to liquefy coal, develop oil shale, etc. to obtain the energy we need to extend oil supplies, while at the same time we start changing over to something better. we do have time, but that is limited.
I agree bout using something else instead of corn. I don't know too much bout ethanol, but years ago when they were just talking bout making E85 available to public at gas stations, I read some articles that were talking bout how ethanol burns faster than gasoline and is worse for the environment. They were suggesting making it out of sugarcane bc it'll burn slower and cleaner. But I think the main reason for E85 was to bring business to struggling farmers.
I agree bout using something else instead of corn. I don't know too much bout ethanol, but years ago when they were just talking bout making E85 available to public at gas stations, I read some articles that were talking bout how ethanol burns faster than gasoline and is worse for the environment. They were suggesting making it out of sugarcane bc it'll burn slower and cleaner. But I think the main reason for E85 was to bring business to struggling farmers.
often times people confuse ethanol and methanol. both are alcohols, but methanol doesnt have even the potential energy of ethanol. as for alcohol fuels burning faster, not true, in fact they tend to burn a bit slower than gasoline does.
in regards to emissions, alcohol doesnt burn cleaner than gasoline, just colder, and has a different emission profile than gasoline does. alcohol is still a hydrocarbon, just a different mix than gasoline.
as for alcohol fuels burning faster, not true, in fact they tend to burn a bit slower than gasoline does.
It does burn faster, therefore bringing the mileage per gal down comparing to gasoline.
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