Posted on 09/02/2016 5:02:02 AM PDT by Kaslin
Methanol from cellulose (or biomass) is the way to go. It can be mixed with ethanol and used in its pure form or blended with gasoline. Biomass is out of the human food chain, inexpensive (such as wood fiber and corn stover) and with the new technology, the methanol yield per ton of fiber could make America energy independent. Methanol can also be made from coal and natural gas. For a good treatment of the energy challenge to independence, here is what Dr. Robert Zubrin writes:
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/sci.energy/EakceSO5TNU
I understand but whether conservative (principled or not) or liberal or whatever, ethanol when properly and studied in an unbiased fashion just does not measure up to the bullshit lies this government is foisting on us as an excuse to subsidize its use.
Me too.
I tried straight gas in my car, expecting it to increase the mileage enough to offset the added expense.
After one tankful, zero mileage increase.
Went back to E-10.
Yes, thus the irony in the mandate for higher fuel economy and the concurrent push toward more ethanol in fuel blends. All I know is, I had a Jeep Cherokee that would consistently get me 18.5-19.5 MPG commuting with its straight 6 (depended on A/C use). When the stores in my area started running alcohol blended fuel, my MPG dropped to about 17.5-18.
In one way or another, even the most Pro-Ethanol site, government or otherwise, HAS to admit somewhere that the mileage efficiency suffers. To me this indisputable. Where I have seen these admissions, they have always been followed up with other extraneous benefits tied to “green,” “renewable,” or “replaces scarce oil.” All lies.
True. There would have to be a change in the design of fuel systems to protect against the corrosive effects of ethanol and methanol. That can be done. Cars that do not have the redesigned fuel systems will have to work on gasoline with a minimal ethanol/methanol blend.
To me co-products is the issue. It means that all the studies about cost, pollution, etc. are wrong.
They also don't take into account that the fermentation process also produces the dreaded.......CO2.....
Ethanol is not destructive to an engine designed to use ethanol....same as methanol.
Methanol, by the way is just another form of alcohol, and is one of the leading contenders in the field of clean coal since it is produced from coal.
And the dreaded FIREBALL!
:>)
Yeah, I worded it poorly. The methanol did, too. You could actually be disqualified from race day if, when they tested your methanol, it didn't clear quickly from the test, and too much moisture in the methanol would allow it to remain cloudy in that test. I can't remember what they did to test it, they mixed it with something, hell, maybe water, at a specific measurement. Too much moisture in your fuel, and the mix wouldn't clear, and they'd DQ you.
You had to store it sealed tightly in a drum, up off the ground for the best results. I'm not sure why up off the ground was supposed to work better, some said it would absorb moisture from the ground, but I'm not sure how that would be possible through a metal or plastic tank. Maybe sitting on cooler concrete allowed for it to attract moisture into a poorly sealed container. I don't know.
What is interesting, is that ethanol fuel has been around for a decade, and I bought my folks old RV, that has been around for 17 years. This thing has sat more than it's ever been driven. Every year it starts right up after sitting for six months or better. No problems. That being said, the EGR valve did go out on it a few years back, but I don't think it was the ethanol. It's never given me issues with power, starting, pulling or anything, and it's been running 10% ethanol fuel for at least 6 years now, that I know of.
However you may or may not be right I won’t question. What I know from very personal experience with ethanol additives in cars, trucks, small engines (2 and 4 cycle) tells me that it is nothing but crap when used as an additive. The less added the better if we have to have it. I’d hate to see what 15% or more is going to do now.
And just because a car manufacturer says “E85” doesn’t mean it is impervious. What it means is they’ve figured out what can make it past warranty and what won’t.
If you’ve ever had a car with malfunctioning TPMS sensors, you’d know that the TPMS sensors are government mandated and NOT covered under manufacturer’s warranty. On average is costs about $100 to replace a tire pressure sensor when the battery turns out to be a dud.
Your government at work “Here to help you.”
That's exactly so important that principled conservatives take a stand against it at all times, not just after elections. All others should too, but if principled conservatives don't, no one else will. And, the point is that a principled conservative did, indeed, take a stand against ethanol subsidies and still won the Iowa election. If others did the same, ethanol subsidies could be eliminated forever.
I’ve spent a LOT of time investigating ethanol as a gas additive, effect on engines of most any type and my only conclusion is that it is crap. It isn’t needed, in fact it is detrimental. It is all some government green subsidy ploy designed to make some people feel good and others very rich.
Unfortunately, the EPA pretty much requires ethanol in gas in many areas.
Even wholesale redesign still doesn’t compensate for the admitted inefficiency of ethanol versus gasoline. That fact is not a question.
That is why the EPA needs to be disestablished.
What you say is true I believe, but it isn’t a question of Cruz and what he did. It is a question about what I know and have experienced about ethanol. To subsidize ethanol use through direct dollars or by “no-taxing” or whatever makes no difference. We have a government agency that mandates its use and that is nothing but appeasing greenism borne out of politics and corruption.
I bought gas at a station in Durango, CO a few weeks ago. They were selling ethanol free right there at the pump for about $.30 more/gallon. I've never seen this anywhere else (I live about 1400 miles from Durango).
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