Posted on 10/24/2005 5:27:09 PM PDT by kerryusama04
Ever wish America didnt depend on the Middle East for oil imports? Ever wish there was an alternative to gasoline? There is. Its called E85. E85 is a clean, practical, alternative fuel made from the ultimate renewable resource...American grains. E85 is 85% ethanol, distilled from corn, and only 15% gasoline. By fueling with E85, motorists can help reverse the trend toward greater Middle Eastern oil imports. We have got an abundant supply of clean-burning, high performing, renewable fuel right here in the U.S. E85 is a high-octane fuel, produced by the fermentation of plant sugars. Today, U.S. ethanol producers currently have the capacity to produce more than 4 billion gallons each year. With more plants under construction, ethanol producers are poised to keep pace with the rapidly increasing demand for E85. Think about itgrain grown by Americans, processed by Americans, fueling Americans cars. One bushel of corn produces 2.8 gallons of ethanol in addition to several valuable co-products. Using only the starch from the grain, the fermentation process leaves behind nearly all of the valuable vitamins and protein for use in other products such as gluten feed and gluten meal. The gluten is then fed to livestock, adding even more value to our nations large grain crop.
(Excerpt) Read more at e85fuel.com ...
http://www.e85fuel.com/forretailers/2006_purchasing_guide.pdf
E85fuel.com is the lobbying group for Ethanol in the US, so expect the bright side, but the down side is in there, too.
This article shows which vehicles are going to be FFV's for the next model year, how to tell if the car you already have can run E85, and where to buy E85.
I'm not looking to be E85 boy, but these posts seem to generate a ton of debate.
Driving through the farm belt in Central Illinois I have seen signs for E85 and not known much about it.
Thanks for posting the article.
It takes more than a gallon of gasoline to produce a gallon of ethanol.
AP) Farmers, businesses and state officials are investing millions of dollars in ethanol and biofuel plants as renewable energy sources, but a new study says the alternative fuels burn more energy than they produce.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/07/19/tech/main709983.shtml
"Ethanol production in the United States does not benefit the nation's energy security, its agriculture, the economy, or the environment."
David Pimentel, Tad Patzek
Authors of recent ethanol study
I hear that alot. Not buying it, though. Too simple.
Government subsidized (taxes), poorer gas mileage.
No upside. Just green hype.
>>>It takes more than a gallon of gasoline to produce a gallon of ethanol.
Wrong. Ethanol is not the only product produced in the process, thus assigning the total input costs to only 1 product is a lie.
>>>>David Pimentel, Tad Patzek
Loons. The both of them.
What else is produced and how much does it's value offset of the gasoline required to make it?
Here's the upside as far as I am concerned - Missouri farmers aren't trying to kill us. I am no green by any stretch. We have an 05 Suburban that runs E85 and we have a 00 Silverado that doesn't. The Silverado is going to get replaced with an Avalanche that can run E85 when the time comes. I get less gas mileage on E85, but I am doing SOMETHING to get us off the Saudi Welfare. I hear the smaller FFV's do beter on mpg's on E85.
Hi Keith. I bet you get to use your one liner before too long.
I nearly put E85 into my Cherokee, as I'd not heard of it, did not know it was any different from the enthanol-enhanced fuel sold in Iowa (through which I passed on the way up) and didn't know it wasn't for my truck.
Thank God for the farmer at the pump next to mine...
The wet-milling process: |
The dry-milling process: |
31.5 pounds of starch |
10 one-lb. boxes of cereal |
or |
and |
33 lbs. of sweetner |
15 lbs. of brewer grits (enough for 1 gal. of beer) |
or |
and |
2.5 gal. fuel ethanol |
10 eight oz. packages of Cheese Curls |
and |
and |
12.4 lbs. of 21% protein feed |
1 lb. of pancake mix |
and |
and |
3.0 lbs. of 60% gluten meal |
22 lbs. of hominy feed for livestock |
and |
and |
1.5 lbs. of corn oil |
0.7 lbs. of corn oil |
and |
and |
17 lbs. of carbon dioxide |
17 lbs. of carbon dioxide |
The corn oil is used in producing food for human consumption. For example, 1.5 lbs of corn oil from a bushel of corn is equivalent to 2 lbs of margarine. The 21% protein feed is used in making high protein livestock feed. The carbon dioxide is used as a refrigerant, in carbonated beverages, to help vegetable crops to grow more rapidly in greenhouses, and to flush oil wells. Only the starch of the corn (carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen) is used to make ethanol.
To assume that the total economic input costs in the production of ethanol is charged on the balance sheet to only the ethanol is simply wrong - a fraud foisted upon the gullible by the oil industry propagandists.
You lose a little on every sale, but you make it up on volume.
Actually, I don't buy the argument. My guess is there were numerous obstacles to overcome when ethanol first hit the market. I think they are getting overcome one by one as you would expect with any commodity that has a demand.
I'm curious if the US or the world produces enough corn to satisfy all the demand. My guess is it doesn't. My guess is ethanol and E85 is but another component in the world wide fuel puzzle.
My problem is I think my state still provides a subsidy for the production of ethanol as well as legislating demand. I wonder how long such a thing is necessary. I'm not a scientist, chemist or energy expert. I just like reading little tidbits about E85 as they get published.
I asked a question, Keith, because I was interested in knowing something I've no knowledge of.
Want to learn more?
http://www.nwicc.cc.ia.us/pages/continuing/business/ethanolcurriculum.html
The Chevy Tahoe we buoght back in August can burn E85. We didn't intentionally buy the vehicle for that purpose. I just look at it as a side benefit.
Only I can't find any E85 around here....
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