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Coolness !!!!
We have a lot of "inconvenient truths" in our society today. Most are get rich quick schemes that are sold by politicians.
Ethanol Comic
as it should. Do you have any idea how many (especially poor) countries rely on corn exports from the US to feed their people?
I would like to see any data that proves you get 1.3 units of ethanol energy for one unit of fossil fuel. The most pro ethanol study I have read was 1.2 gallons of ethanol to each gallon equivelant. of fossil fuel. Does that include all the heavy use of fossil fertilizer? It also does not address the 3 gallons of water used for each gallon of ethanol produced.
Around here I pay more for water than gasoline. My water bill for last month $109. We don't have enough fresh water to waste it on ethanol production.
now you do realize that if the entire corn crop of the US were turned into ethanol, it would only replace about 15% of the gasoline being used? and we would have no corn to eat, feed to livestock, or export. and, I think I read somewhere that it takes 5 gallons of water to make 1 gallon of ethanol.
its a pipe dream. will never be a replacement for fossile fuels, and its time to stop wasting money on it, and direct that money to realistic alternatives
I would hate to see our country denuded to plant corn as is happening in Brazil with the rain forest. Iowa is already something like 93% planted in crops that was once a huge hardwood forest. When all things are taken into consideration I believe corn ethanol will be scrapped as it was in the 1980s. A few companies will pocket billions and we will pay the bill AGAIN.
thats part of the problem too. there isn't a whole lot of farmable land in the US that isn't being used. on top of that, you can't plant more than once a year, and you can't keep planting the same crop on the same field. If either of those are done, the farmers will burn out the soil, and we'll have another dust bowl out west.
corn yields could be increased some, but nowhere near what it would take to replace gasoline.
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I've driven several alhocol powered cars in Brazil and I swear they felt more powerful than similar gas ones.
Edit-it was the Me-109, it was a 50:50 methanol-water mix on some of the supercharged ones.
They switched to gas powered cars, but now the trend is back towards Flex-Fuel. Haven't driven those.
Because of the lack of E85 infrastructure, our flex-fuel Tahoe must be capable of running on 87-octane gasoline most of the time. As a result, the compression ratio and other fixed engine design parameters cannot be optimized to 103-octane E85.
But things wouldn't change much. According to spread sheets developed to score the upcoming Automotive X-Prize competition, gasoline contains 116,090 Btu/gallon while E85 contains just 82,295 Btu/gallon - 29% less. Equivalent performance will always require more E85 to be burned.
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The surprise is that with E85 it's slower. Not the same, but slower.
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They can't put the compression ratio in the Flex-Fuel Tahoe that 103-octane E85 could take advantage of because then the engine couldn't run on regular gas (or even premium). It is impossible for them to optimize (read dedicate) an engine for E85 until the fuel is available at at least as many pumps as diesel is found today. How many years has it taken Brazil to get to that point?
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In the latest biofuels-related hike, a poor wheat harvest amid rising demand from fuel makers is expected to boost pasta prices 20%
http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/jul2007/gb20070711_634563.htm
Now it does go on to save that biofuels aren't the only factor in the price increases, but this rush towards biofuels is certainly affecting commodity pricing already.
Just my two cents, but we really kind of need food. Just because we can make a fuel out of what we would otherwise eat doesn't mean we should.
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The 80s model were terrible. They would not start on a cold, rainy morning. They stumbled badly and hesitated until warm.
Modern fuel injection and engine controls has made them far better now.
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We have lots more acreage that could grow sugar beets. Why not that if you must do ethanol?
I agree that it's just a big government boondoggle to move money into farm states at the expense of teh rest of the country.
You know, the same money that ADM puts into the politician's pockets?
regards,
kyfdx
visiting host
Disclaimer: The views expressed above do not necessarily reflect the view of Edmunds, it's advertisers, etc, etc, etc.. They are merely the uneducated rantings of one individual.
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They are merely the uneducated rantings of one individual.
Anyone with a third grade education would come to the same conclusion.
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Q1: What mid-western state holds the first presidential caucus of the primary season?
Q2: What traditional food crop is widely associated with this state?
Q3: Is it likely that a presidential candidate will make it through the primary season without first doing well in this caucus?
Q4: Am I spelling "caucus" correctly? :shades:
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Corn
No
Yes
I'm not American so don't blame me if I got #1 wrong.
PS
It would be political suicide to go to Iowa and tell the truth about ethanol. McCain did about a year ago and was lambasted.