In SoTU Dubya talked about Cellulosic ethanol 6 yrs in the future

[JohnWxy]

When we have a practical, renewable alternative fuel, cheaper than gasoline and available right now.

Corn ethanol as Gasohol (10% ethanol) can be used in ANY car that burns gasoline (like the car you are driving right now - unless it's a diesel) , and Ethanol85 (85% ethanol) can be used in a FFV (GM has sold 1.5 MILLION FFVs on the road right now). A FFV does not cost any more to buy than a regular car (not thousands more like Hybrid vehicles).

When you burn ethanol15 (15% ethanol) in your car you are immediately cutting your gasoline consumption by 15% (or 10% for gasohol) - without waiting 6 years and without spending thousands of dollars for a hybrid vehicle! IF you have a FFV (many people have them and don't even know it (because they didn't pay anything extra to buy it!) and run Ethanol85 in it you are cutting your gasoline consumption 85%!! And without spending a dime extra for the car!!

USA Today front page article on corn ethanol

All modern vehicles can burn a widely sold fuel, often called gasohol, that's 10% ethanol and 90% gasoline. But only specially outfitted cars and trucks can use E85. They are called flexible-fuel vehicles — or FFVs — and are designed to burn straight gasoline, E85 or any gas/ethanol blend in between.

Ethanol85 sells for on the average, $2.10 per gallon (gas is at $2.45 medium grade, $2.55 premium grade). Although American made FFVs get lower miles per gallon than gasoline (mostly compensated for by the lower price, however) Saab makes a 9-5 FFV that gets just as good as mileage as a gasolliine powered car. If you take advantage of the higher octane of ethanol85 (105 vs 92-93 for Premium grade gas) you get more horsepower and more performance (including better mileage) from the engine. Saab does it using turbo-charging and variable valve timing - not a super expensive high-tech solution.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x40697


But what we do not have is adequate availability of ethanol so people can use it if they want to - (and IF THEY KNOW IT EXISTS). What we need is a program to aggressively expand the availability of ethanol fuel and the production so we can start reducing gas consumption right away. Corn ethanol is being produced right now. Just not in great enough quantity. No additional R&D effort and expense is needed.

INVESTIGATION INTO WHETHER CORPORATIONS RESTRICT ACCESS to BIOFUELS

[louis-t]

1. Don't hold yer breath.

Mr. "All talk and no action" didn't really mean what he said.

[FogerRox]

2. Petro based fertilizer is used to grow corn- Farm tractors use gas/deisel

Seems to me, just as much benifit would be derived from Increased CAFE standards.

[JohnWxy]

4. Read Dr. Wang's (Argonne National Laboratory) study

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=115&topic_id=35670

http://www.ncga.com/public_policy/PDF/03_28_05ArgonneNatlLabEthanolStudy.pdf


Expanding ethanol production and increasing CAFE standards are not mutually exclusive.

[RC]

3. This statement is absolutely false.

"When you burn ethanol15 (15% ethanol) in your car you are immediately cutting your gasoline consumption by 15% (or 10% for gasohol)"

It implies ethanol has the same energy content as gasoline. It does not, it has less. Also ethanol has it's own share of pollutants to deal with

[JohnWxy]

5. Okay, for simplicity sake, I rounded. The actual reduction would be

for 15% ethanol, more like, about 12-13% reduction in gas consumption. But this is without buying a new car (for thousands of dollars extra for a hybrid vehicle) - just using the car you are driving right now (unless you are drivinga diesel) you can achieve this savings WITH NO OUT OF POCKET COSTS TO THE DRIVER!.

BETTER GAS MILEAGE WITH COMPRESSION BOOST FROM TURBO-CHARGING (ETHANOL HAS HIGHER OCTANE RATING)

Now if you go to ethanol 85 (85% pure ethanol) you have enough improvement in octane rating (ethanol 105, gasoline , premium grade 92-93) to make it worth it to use turbo-charging or super-charging to take advantage of the higher octane of ethanol85. This gets you more horsepower and torque and betterr performance - including mileage which is just as good as running on pure gasoline. FFVs can be set up this way: SAAB sells a 9-5 Bio-power which is a FFV vehicle and is turbo charged with variaable valve timing. It gets more power than when it is run on straight gas and gets comparable (if not better) mileage compared to using gasoline. . Computer control of turbo adjusts the boost for the fuel being run, increasing boost when Ethanol85 is being used.

Ethanol15 has a slightly higher octane than straight gas but not enought difference to be able to gain much by turbo-charging.

Oh, and let's not forget Ethanol85 is selling for about $2.10 a gal while gas is going for about $2.45 mid grade and $2.55 for premium.