Ethanol Gaining Support

[dbzeag]

Doing some research (PM me for more details) I found this out. Approximations of course:

The cost to power a car with the power of one gallon of gasoline:
Gasoline - $2.77
No2 Diesel - $2.52
BioDiesel (B100) - $3.34 to $3.54
CNG - $6.01 to $7.39
Ethanol (E85) - $3.58 to $3.65
Methanol (M85) - $1.36 to $1.42
Propane - $3.48 to $3.50

These are numbers from the Department of Energy for average US prices for Sept 2005 and the estimates for BTU per gallon unit of said fuel.

 

[eting_pro5]

Last time I checked, E85 was $0.12 cheaper at one location and $1.00+ more expensive at another.


Also, the idea of ethanol isn't that you'll be getting better mileage. Every ethanol advocate will admit that you'll get lower mileage. It's the idea that you're consuming less oil, and the CO2 emissions are somewhat offset by the CO2 consumed when the corn/sugar cane/sugar beets grow back the next year.

There's also a pretty divided debate on whether the farming/processing/transportation of ethanol yields a positive or negative net energy. It's way complicated.

 

[Mallard]

You'll only get worse milege with E85 if your engine is designed for gasoline. With an engine designed specifically for E85 you could boost your efficiency by running a higher compression ratio and make more power safely.

 

[YuYuRena]

Ethanol has less energy density than gasoline, hence the lower gas mileage. Also, people argue that growing bio-fuel takes more energy than using petro from the ground. Well think abou this, how much energy did it take to grow a dinosaurs or some "animals," compress it to some gooy black liquid called petro? Bio-diesel comes from plants (life cycle of about 1 year give or take), and petro (millions of years?). I just think that the oil company likes their current fat profit and wants to maintain their monopoly on their current industry. Put what economy to shamble by switching to bio-fuel? Look at how the oil prices now jumps at a whim of news, that's putting our economy on shamble, no long stable energy prices.

 

[jersey_emt]

Ethanol has less energy density than gasoline, hence the lower gas mileage. Also, people argue that growing bio-fuel takes more energy than using petro from the ground. Well think abou this, how much energy did it take to grow a dinosaurs or some "animals," compress it to some gooy black liquid called petro? Bio-diesel comes from plants (life cycle of about 1 year give or take), and petro (millions of years?). I just think that the oil company likes their current fat profit and wants to maintain their monopoly on their current industry. Put what economy to shamble by switching to bio-fuel? Look at how the oil prices now jumps at a whim of news, that's putting our economy on shamble, no long stable energy prices.

Nicely put.

 

[pluto316]

If Florida sold Ethanol I'd switch my lines to run it.