Alternative Fuels: Are They for Real?
- From: "Bio-Diesel Fan" <wookiee@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 27 May 2006 15:30:24 -0500
http://netscape.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Columns/articleId=109914
Gas and Alcohol Really Do Mix: Is E85 the Answer to Easing the Oil Crisis?
The President Thinks So.
Date posted: 04-10-2006
On the last day of January, President Bush delivered his "addicted to oil"
speech. Coming from an oilman president, this is akin to Milton S. Hershey
warning us that we're addicted to chocolate, but this administration does
not seem much interested in irony.
Anyway, President Bush said it is time for the United States to "move beyond
a petroleum-based economy and make our dependence on Middle Eastern oil a
thing of the past." He asked Congress to fund a 22-percent increase in
federal energy research to focus on several strategies, including ethanol,
which is typically made from corn but can also be made from agricultural
waste and other sources. "Our goal is to make this new kind of ethanol
practical and competitive within six years," he said.
In other words: Let's pay Farmer Brown rather than Sheik Bin Lootin.
Since then, alcohol is the overnight success story that was decades in the
making. There's a lot to like about alcohol. True, it's more corrosive than
gasoline ? I mean, have you seen Teddy Kennedy? ? but manufacturers seem
able to build fuel delivery systems and engines that can run happily for a
long time on heavy doses of alcohol. It's the fuel of choice in Brazil,
which makes Brazil our template for two things: running cars on ethanol and
swimsuit design.
The fuel Bush was talking about is E85, so called because it's 85-percent
alcohol, 15-percent gasoline. (Or, for Senator Kennedy, "170 proof.")
Why do we need the 15-percent gasoline? Because the alcohol is less
volatile, and the gasoline helps the engine start and idle, especially in
cold weather. Diesel engines can run on E95, which has just 5-percent
gasoline.
Corn or, as we call it, "maize"
The alcohol in ethanol is produced from grain in a process that is similar ?
fermentation and all ? to distilling alcohol for drinking. But there's a new
ethanol plant in Louisiana that, when completed, should be able to make
ethanol from rice hulls and bagasse, which is what's left over from
harvesting sugar cane, as well as from rice straw, which is residue after
rice harvesting. Disposing of rice straw costs California farmers as much as
$18 million a year. Among the 30-odd ethanol plants under construction are
some that could make alcohol from municipal solid waste, which is more
plentiful even than rice straw.
Corn, though, is the current crop of choice. How much corn to make how much
alcohol? According to the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition, "One bushel of
corn produces about 2.7 gallons of ethanol, 11.4 pounds of gluten feed
(which is 20-percent protein), 3 pounds of gluten meal (60-percent protein)
and 1.6 pounds of corn oil."
At most pumps, E85 costs about the same as regular gasoline, but the price
should drop when government subsidies kick in and production rises.
Illinois, for instance, charges sales tax on gasoline but not on E85.
E85 is similar enough to gasoline ? but burns cleaner ? so the changes
required to make an engine compatible with either E85 or pure gasoline are
simple and inexpensive. These flexible-fuel vehicles, or FFVs, can run on
gas, E85 or any combination of the two.
Do you already own an FFV?
None of this is new, as there are about 5 million FFVs already on the road,
everything from trucks and SUVs to family sedans from Chevrolet, Chrysler,
Dodge, Ford and GMC. There are a handful of other FFVs on the road from
Isuzu, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mercury and Nissan. How do you find out if you
have one? Log onto e85fuel.com, which is hosted by the National Ethanol
Vehicle Coalition, and click on the "Is your vehicle compatible?" link. If
you are in doubt, there's even a guide that uses your vehicle's
identification number to tell you if it is an FFV.
So what's the downside to E85? The central problem is that a tank of E85,
despite having a slightly higher octane rating, just doesn't have as much
energy as a tank of gasoline, so your miles-per-gallon declines. According
to the EPA, a new Ford Crown Victoria FFV with a 4.6-liter V8 engine is
rated at 17 mpg in the city, 25 mpg on the highway on gasoline. On E85, that
mileage drops to 12 mpg in the city, 18 mpg on the highway. With a Nissan
Titan ? the only Japanese-brand E85-capable vehicle listed ? city/highway
mileage is 14/18 on gas, 10/13 on E85. The Dodge Caravan with the 3.3-liter
V6 gets 19/26 on gas, 13/17 on E85.
Also at e85fuel.com, you'll find what could be considered another downside
of E85 ? a state-by-state list showing where you can buy it, and can't.
Mostly can't. Ford says about 500 out of 180,000 filling stations in the
United States sell E85. The vast majority is in the Corn Belt ? which
includes Illinois, Indiana and Missouri ? but more pumps are being added
daily, part of a joint push involving the government, auto manufacturers and
fuel companies.
According to e85fuel.com, more than a dozen states have no E85 outlets, and
many others have E85 pumps that aren't accessible to the public, only to
government agencies. Florida, for instance, has two pumps ? one at Kennedy
Space Center, the other at an air force base ? but you can't use them. Texas
has five outlets, but only one, in San Antonio, is open to the public.
California has four outlets, with just one in San Diego that's accessible to
civilians.
But Missouri, home to the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition ? and lots of
corn farmers ? has 25 outlets, with 24 open to the public. Illinois has more
than 100.
American as apple pie, if pie used corn
Some manufacturers, particularly Ford and General Motors, are solidly on the
E85 bandwagon, and both assembled elaborate ethanol presentations for the
Chicago auto show, which took place just two weeks after Bush's speech. Ford
says that during the 2006 model year, it will build 250,000 FFVs. GM thinks
it can sell 400,000 FFVs a year.
Currently, E85 is pretty much the domain of U.S. brands, putting them
ahead ? in this area, at least ? of the Japanese, Koreans and Europeans.
But given that ? at present anyway ? E85 gives you worse mileage than
gasoline, those U.S. manufacturers are counting on at least a little
home-team support, as well as sentiment that would allow you to pay more if
you could contribute to cleaner air and reduce dependence on foreign oil.
On that, even George Bush and Ted Kennedy can agree.
---------------------------------------------------------
My input:
Just today, I've saw E85 burn, I only had about an 1/2 ounce of it, but it
seems to burn every bit as good as bit as straight gasoline burns especially
on wet leaves. The only reason they don't run E100 in cars, or straight
Ethanol is so new cars will start in cold weather.
Me, after seeing a noticeable mileage increase bio-diesel, I'm switching to
bio-diesel until it starts getting cold again, then I'll have to find
something, either an good additive or give up on it for a while.
I was talking to a friend today, he asked was the mileage increase really
that good, I said: "It wasn't 'good', just not as rotten as dino diesel."
He laughed.
Signed:
Bio-Diesel Fan
gas: http://e85fuel.com
or
diesel: http://ilsoy.org
or
some other way to get away from both those.
.
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