Post by OutlawwithaSnipeSniper on May 21, 2015 14:14:51 GMT -6
Regarding gas prices, I was up in Annawan this week on the way to the Quad Cities and E-85 was selling for a substantial discount to regular 10 percent Ethanol gas. It was about 80 cents a gallon cheaper. If regular was 2.65, the E-85 was running maybe 1.85. The Ethanol plant was right next door though too.
Anyway, I hear everyone say how terrible it is, how it is not stable, breaks down quickly, ruins o rings, gaskets and more, etc, etc.
I would LOVE to try it but my car is not E-85 compatable.
So what's the scoop?
I mean it's a product of HERE. The money you spend will stay HERE and change hands a few times until it all goes overseas anyway.
It's RENEWABLE. We can make more of it every year, no problem. It's not fracking or generating Nuclear waste that we don't know for sure what to do with or burning coal. (this applies to bio-diesel too)
It benefits our LOCAL economy, the farmers and the ethanol plants and all the people that do business with them.
I was told that AFTER they make the ethanol the byproduct still has 85 percent of the nutritional food value for animal feed.
It burns pretty darn clean. (Shouldn't we be burning this stuff in our kid's School Busses, City Busses and stuff like that)
So are the issues with it because it is a blended fuel with Gasoline?
Is it because the Cars weren't REALLY designed to burn it from the start?
Brazil has been using it for decades. They are energy independent, they grow their fuel and don't import oil.
I know the E-85 only gets about 80 percent the gas mileage, but again is this because it is a blended fuel and the cars are not designed to run on it?
Couple of things.
While it may be a renewable product, it is net energy negative with current production techniques, IE it takes a fair amount more energy to make than you get from it. It also takes a valuable product, food and strains that commodity supply chain.
The current reason it is so much cheaper is Federal subsidies, which are not sustainable in the long run. There are also some other issues, such as cold starting problems and the aforementioned wear and corrosion issues, though they have been largely mitigated in newer vehicles.
Perhaps a better approach would be to Federally fund serious research into bacterial production of petroleum, essentially replicating the process that produced the oil below our feet. There has been enough research done to prove it's viability, and several places are working towards pilot plant trials, but for all our whining about wanting to be energy efficient, we don't invest a few billion towards this very promising technology.
I do wonder why? ( Rhetorical question )
Then there is always the tried and true diesel tree........ just go out in the backyard and tap a gallon or two for your truck.... If we could just get it to grow this far north.