POLL: Would you put ethanol in your car? (no modification needed)

[yurbud]

E85 ethanol, 85% gasoline, 15% alcohol was available near my house in the 80s, was cheaper than gas, and didn't perform noticably differently from regular gas.

If it was available in your area, would you use it?

Hillbilly Hitler art:



Blog:

[tk2kewl]

1. I already do... I don't get a choice in the metro NYC area

[Kali]

2. Already have to

for about half the year, I think. Arizona.

[blondeatlast]

13. Yep, those hideous inversion months. nt

[GreenPartyVoter]

3. Is there MTBE in it?

[wtbymark]

4. Mods would have to be made

or you're gonna burn up your pistons

On edit: didn't see the 15% ethanol mix - 100% ethanol would take modifications.

[drummo]

7. You may find this story interesting.

http://current.tv/studio/media/183

[LittleClarkie]

5. It is and I do

Not much choice.

[markus]

6. E85 will perform differently than gas, but that doesn't mean no

It contains a whole lot less energy than gasoline. It will reduce your milleage, cause you're going to burn a good bit more to cover the same miles.

That said, I burn 15% all year. I started using 100% gasoline in my new Saturn VUE to get a gas millage idea, and plan to switch back to Ethanol as the weather cools (since it helps prevent gas line freezing).

My wife has an E85 capable vehicle, but we haven't tried it yet.

[bperci108]

8. If you are really concerned about oil use...

You will not use Ethanol.

Why?

Because it actually uses more oil to make ethanol than it saves burning it instead of oil in your car's tank.

About a month ago the Ethanol/Corn Lobby (read here: Big Agribusiness) was apoplectic over a study released by UC Berkley and another university that confirmed this. They denounced it as ridiculous, even though this study's methodology was far more all-encompassing than the Corn Lobby's and used far more realistic production estimates.

The Corn Lobby has always promoted ethanol religiously and uses an equation to show it's benefit that excluded all oil input costs to produce the corn and ethanol in the first place, (i.e. petroleum inputs from fertilizer, diesel fuel used in the tractor and combine, diesel used to transport the raw corn and the finished ethanol, energy used to process the corn into ethanol, etc.)

In the end, it's a boondoggle than uses more energy than it saves. The only real beneficiaries of Ethanol are the big agribusiness corporations. :mad:

I would recommend James Kunstler's "The Long Emergency" for yet another POV on so-called bio-fuels.

He calls the promotion of them as proof positive of our deep denial over the fast approaching end of cheap oil and the economy that depends on it like a junkie. :-(

(Note: This was posted elswhere, but I thought it was apropo here, too.)

[Benhurst]

10. Has a study been done on how much oil is expended protecting

"our" oil in the Middle East and around the world? I read last night that the U.S. Navy uses over 15% of the diesel produced each year.

How many tens of thousands have we killed for "our" oil?

Couldn't tractors and trucks be modified to run on ethanol? The study assumes they will be consuming oil.

And what value is given to energy independence?

Maybe we wouldn't have to spend more on "defense" than the rest of the world combined if we weren't hooked on oil.

[bperci108]

11. It doesn't matter.

To use one of my old professor's favorite statements:

"There ain't no free lunch."

It takes oil and other petroleum inputs to produce modifications for old vehicles, make new vehicles, or even to make solar panels and wind generators.

Few people have thought about just how completely dependant we are on petroleum for nearly everything in our economy and lives.

As for "our" oil under their desert, far too much has been paid for it in lives and treasure already. :-(

But......

The oil in the mideast is running out, too.

The point made in the above-cited book is that once peak is reached, it's a death-spiral on the way down the depletion curve for Life As We Know It.

Instead of trying to prolong the inevitable with "bio-fuels", our time would be much better spent solving the no-fuel dilemma, instead of the expensive-fuel dilemma. That is; learning how to live with little or no oil as opposed to trying to keep our SUV's running endless pointless errands with moonshine in the tank and heating our McMansions with used donut grease.

In a nutshell, I believe my grandchildren will live in a world that looks far more like the world of my great-grandparents than like mine.

It's time to face some really unpleasant facts and realities, folks.

[ThomWV]

9. Only If Valve Jobs Are Affordable In Your Area

Prolonged use of the stuff leads to shortened valve life, or more particularly valve seat and valve face where it contacts the seat. I wouldn't mind using it now and then though. Oh, I almost forgot, it will also eat some hoses and carburetor gasket material, but mostly that pertains to old cars. Not that much of a concern though, for one thing very few cars today even have carburetors.

[Orsino]

12. Um, Your Question Parses to...

"Would you pay less for gas?"

Of course we would.