How to Beat the High Cost of Gasoline. Forever!

money.cnn.com ^ | January 24, 2006 | Adam Lashinsky and Nelson D. Schwartz

[kellynla]

(FORTUNE Magazine) - You probably don't know it, but the answer to America's gasoline addiction could be under the hood of your car. More than five million Tauruses, Explorers, Stratuses, Suburbans, and other vehicles are already equipped with engines that can run on an energy source that costs less than gasoline, produces almost none of the emissions that cause global warming, and comes from the Midwest, not the Middle East.

These lucky drivers need never pay for gasoline again--if only they could find this elusive fuel, called ethanol. Chemically, ethanol is identical to the grain alcohol you may have spiked the punch with in college. It also went into gasohol, that 1970s concoction that brings back memories of Jimmy Carter in a cardigan and outrageous subsidies from Washington. But while the chemistry is the same, the economics, technology, and politics of ethanol are profoundly different.

[kellynla]

"today's gas stations can handle the most common mixture of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline, called E85, with minimal retrofitting. It takes about 30% more ethanol than gasoline to drive a mile, and the stuff is more corrosive, but building a car that's E85-ready adds only about $200 to the cost. Ethanol has already transformed one major economy: In Brazil nearly three-quarters of new cars can burn either ethanol or gasoline, whichever happens to be cheaper at the pump, and the nation has weaned itself off imported oil."

[mvpel]

Brazil has a decided advantage of having enormous supplies of sugarcane, which can be converted to ethanol very efficiently.

[Uncle Miltie]

B.S.

Ethanol gets horrible gas mileage. We can't plant enough corn to fuel very many cars. The water usage is 3 gallons of water for 1 gallon of fuel, and we don't have that kind of water flow most anywhere. If corn fuels cars, plan on eating less meat. If we plant more corn, we have to crowd out animals' habitat. Ethanol only makes sense at the pump because it is tremendously subsidized before it gets there. My friend who grows corn for ethanol is the only guy around who can afford a new Corvette every year. Etc.

Corn is good for cows and sweeteners. For fuel, it is a pipe dream.

[Uncle Miltie]

"Brazil has a decided advantage of having enormous supplies of sugarcane, which can be converted to ethanol very efficiently."

Razing the Amazon Rain Forest to plant sugar cane for cars doesn't seem so Earth-Friendly.

[Fintan]

 

[longtermmemmory]

I thought most new cares WERE ALREADY ethanol ready.

[babygoy]

Only the foolish would use food for fuel. Only the stupid would ban nuclear energy.

http:thezionazireport.org/marbet.htm

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

As my old plant manager used to say(may he rest in HE double hockey sticks), "Walking ain't out of style!

[Keith in Iowa]

>>>I thought most new cares WERE ALREADY ethanol ready.<<<

One can use the 10% ethanol in any vehicle that uses gas - it takes some extras to make a vehicle E-85 compatible.

[Keith in Iowa]

>>>Only the foolish would use food for fuel. Only the stupid would ban nuclear energy.<<<

And the ignorant think it's a choice of food or fuel. It's food AND fuel.

[Navy Patriot]

For fuel, it is a pipe dream.

Yep, every single gallon of ethanol made raises the cost of other fuels and is less efficient when it replaces them. California just this week managed to remove the mandated ethanol content for California gasoline. Finally a step in the right direction.

[GSlob]

A mileage achievable by a ethanol-powered driver is awesome. 1 gallon is roughly equivalent to 12 750ml bottles at 80 proof. And each such bottle ought to easily propel the driver at least 4 miles. Thus, 50 mpg.

[Marine_Uncle]

So how does one get the oil companies and engine manufactures and other associated required industries to make this a reality? Huge amounts of money are tied up in refineries geared toward producing the many fractions from oil which then are used for literally thousands of middle and end products. For example, benzene, toluene, are used in so many chemical processes to make many things. Oil is needed in huge quantities for not only these many fractions, and cuts for fuel heating, desiel, jet fuel, gasoline etc., but for the thousands of required types of lubricants for instance that all machinary, engines, motors etc. need to operate.
So oil companies cannot just stop doing what they are doing. However, they can gear up to maximize their ethanol output from the oil refining process. Yes, ethanol is produced from oil, as well as the many old coal cracking processes.
So the Feds would have to deal with the oil companies to jump on the band wagon and produce greater amounts of ethanol and sell it at a competitive price to at least break even with companies that would produce ethanol from grains and other bio materials.
There are no free rides. No simple fixes. And anyone that makes it sound that way is deceiving us.
But clearly like most I would welcome engine manufactures to design engines that would run on primary ethanol blended with low percentage of gasoline. We have huge areas in our heartland that can grow corn and other grains to meet our ethanol needs.
Now. Who is going to get the ball rolling that leads to this what appears reasonable approach?
Who is going to take the chance and produce engines that will run effeciently on primary ethanol that also will meet the power train requirements for the type cars sold in the USA?
Only the Federal government through tough laws will make such a thing happen. And quite frankly as many of us know, this issue has been ongoing for many years. Nothing new is being said. We go around in circles. And hardly nothing ever gets accomplished. Will Ford, Chrysler, and GM take the bite and spend required monies to literally change over to this new power train method? Where are the incentives going to come from?
And we must remember, the interim period. How many years would it take to literally establish totally new lines of vehicles while at the same time oil companies and others put in place the required distribution and end stations to provide adequate quantities of the ethanol/gas mix for a varitey of new engine types.
I could say more, but perhaps some will realize things are not as easy as just drilling a whole in a board to fit a peg. A lot of industries must gear up and the consumer must be willing to purchase new lines of vehicles much like the hybrid cars. How many people are willing to purchase a hybrid car?
At any rate. I wish the end result could be obtained. I am just a little weary of hearing the same supposed good news circulate around once again.

[Gondring]

As a replacement for MTBE, okay...it's about time. But let's consider the fuel costs to grow and biorefine the fuel, as well as huge subsides that all of us pay to have the stuff added.

[Uncle Miltie]

So what is "thezionazireport.org" to which you referred?

[billbears]

So the Feds would have to deal with the oil companies to jump on the band wagon and produce greater amounts of ethanol and sell it at a competitive price to at least break even with companies that would produce ethanol from grains and other bio materials

Ahhhh, more government intrusion into the supposed free market. How Republican..

Who is going to take the chance and produce engines that will run effeciently on primary ethanol that also will meet the power train requirements for the type cars sold in the USA? Only the Federal government through tough laws will make such a thing happen.

That's the spirit!! Force them to do so. How about we just turn over all markets Republicans are slowly coming to the belief (in part at least) the government should handle because they know what's good for us, eh?

How many people are willing to purchase a hybrid car?

If I have to drill for oil myself for my own vehicle's consumption, I will not drive a hybrid car. I will drive what I choose, not what the government chooses for me through its economic interventionist policies

[headstamp]

Read further into the article;


"Instead of coming exclusively from corn or sugar cane as it has up to now, thanks to biotech breakthroughs, the fuel can be made out of everything from prairie switchgrass and wood chips to corn husks and other agricultural waste. This biomass-derived fuel is known as cellulosic ethanol. Whatever the source, burning ethanol instead of gasoline reduces carbon emissions by more than 80% while eliminating entirely the release of acid-rain-causing sulfur dioxide."

[Richard Kimball]

Back in the early eighties, I believed that stuff and put the 10% ethanol in my car, when it was available the first time. The new blends may be better, but back then it was sold as safe to use in all vehicles. It fubared my carburetor, and the mechanic told me it knocked deposits off the cylinder walls, and would eventually cause you to throw a rod. I don't know enough about it to know if he was blowing smoke up my dress or not, but I do know I had to rebuild the carb to get it to work, after trying replacing the fuel filters, etc. I'll let somebody else experiment this time.

[soccer_maniac]

http://www.e85fuel.com/index.php

[Lunatic Fringe]

You guys are looking at this all wrong.

Why is Bush, an oil man from an oil family, pushing ethanol and other fuels? Because he knows the oil economy is dead. A nuclear war in the Middle East is going to devastate the world economy. Bush is preparing us for that. In 20 years we will be completely off oil.

Rumor has it, the Bush family is selling their oil interests and put in a tender offer for western Nebraska.