Posted on 03/04/2007 8:01:09 AM PST by Uncle Miltie
E85 is a loser for reduced miles per gallon, as reported in published articles in recent magazines. Stories published in various magazines, e.g., Consumer Reports, CARandDRIVER, Bioscience, Scientific American, American Scientist and Science in 2005 and 2006 question the scientific and economic validity of ethanol (a mixture of gasoline and alcohol) made from corn grain or other fermentable carbohydrates (CHO).
Alcohol made from fermented cellosic material (wood from certain trees, plant materials from plants such as switchgrass or other grasses, etc. may be more feasible. However, cellosic materials are composed of complex CHOs which must be modified to more simple, fermentable CHOs to produce alcohol, and the needed economic procedures are not yet developed.
A significant fact is that gasoline from petroleum has 115,400 British Thermal Units per gallon whereas alcohol (ethanol) has only 75,670 BTUs per gallon, or, alcohol has only .66 the energy of gasoline.
Further, the energy input to produce corn, such as machinery, fertilizer, seed, etc., and the total process of conversion of corn grain to alcohol and by-products requires more energy than is produced in the ethanol, according to researchers at Cornell University (2007 publication) and others. However, others reported a 1.34 gain in energy from the ethanol from the corn when he included the energy of byproducts.
Two publications, Consumer Reports and CARandDRIVER in recent road tests or on an oval track, in 2006 trials found that E85 (gasoline mixed with 85 percent alcohol) has approximately 30 percent less mileage as compared to 87 octane gasoline. At prices of gasoline and E85 in August, 2006, the fuel costs to travel 400 miles (road) with E85 ($3.99) would have exceeded gasoline ($2.49), or a Tahoe Chevrolet went 400 miles on a tankful of gasoline versus the Tahoe going only 290 miles on a tankful of E85.
The author of the story in CARandDRIVER quoted that the Environmental Protection Agency has reported 28 percent reduction in mileage for E85 as compared to gasoline. E85 provided only 0.67 the mileage of gasoline.
Ethanol from corn has required large federal and state subsidies, a 51c/gallon federal subsidy of alcohol blended with gasoline, plus state subsidies and tax incentives to grow to its present 107 ethanol plants producing 5.1 billion gallons of alcohol in 2006, and growing.
The price of corn has increased
50 percent or more in six to nine months benefiting corn growers. The higher price of corn is hurting livestock producers (beef cattle, swine, poultry, etc.) because the price of feeder cattle has decreased significantly and the price of corn for feed has increased 50 percent in six months.
A potentially more efficient producer of liquid fuel energy is thought to be the “cellulosic” system, or production of alcohol from complex CHOs such as wood chips, plant material from corn stalks, and perennial grasses such as switchgrass. However, a basic problem is the development of enzyme(s) to convert complex CHOs to fermentable CHOs.
Economic transportation of such bulky materials also is a problem. Another problem is that the cellulosic plants will use about 500 to 1,000 gallons of water per minute or 1,440,000 gallons per 24 hours with plants closely spaced due to bulk of cellulosic material. (Says Dr. Thomas Robb, in Farm & Ranch Guide, Jan. 5)
The production and use of biodiesel (diesel from petroleum to which are added modified vegetable oils or waste fats) also have economic problems. Canola oil highly publicized for use now has a higher cost per pound or gallon than diesel fuel from petroleum, $3/gallon wholesale versus $2.47/gallon retail. Canola oil is popular for use in cooking or in foods.
Soybean oil has a lower price than canola oil but now has increased to 28.5c/lb. about 10 percent higher than the maximum, 25c/lb. at which using soybean oil in biodiesel will be economic.
The potential users of biofuels are urged to become better informed about their practical and economic feasibility. Stories in the popular press are mostly very favorable to “replaceable, sustainable biofuels” as are corn growers, speculators and most politicians. Other publications are skeptical to negative about the practical and economic feasibility of biofuels now produced from corn grain and other plant sources.
Carter and Nalewaja are professors emeritus in plant science at North Dakota State University.
Both had distinguished careers in teaching and research – Carter in flaxseed for food and fuel, Nalewaja in development of weed control practices. E-mail ImySm@aol.com
Get a diesel-they last longer anyway.
No, it is less than half counting Canada and Mexico.
Simply enough. Ethanol has 35% fewer BTU/volume, but the gas mileage is only 30% less. Which means that it is a more efficient fuel.
Of all the folks who responded, you're the only one with two braincells to rub together---you're right. But what this STILL says is that on a BTU/BTU comparison, ethanol is NO WORSE than gasoline.
The comparison was with E85, not ethanol. Apply those percentages and do the math again.
It is from a game the little woman and I play. You're driving down the road and you see someone doing something strange and you make up wild assumptions about what and why they are doing it. But it does fit algore, LOL
When I can buy E85 for 35% less than gas let me know.
I'm looking at efficiency as miles per gallon, miles per tank, miles per dollar. On just about every comparison E85 looses.
Granted miles per BTU is a wash, but which takes more energy to produce?
Gasoline. The processes to extract and produce a gallon of gasoline take more energy than the processes to produce a gallon of ethanol.
It takes 0.73MM BTU of fossil energy to produce 1MM BTU of ethanol. It takes 1.23MM BTU of fossil energy to produce 1MM BTU of gasoline.
This isn't particularly surprising, because the production steps to get gasoline are far more energy intensive than those to produce ethanol.
Great in good weather, but forget it in rain, snow, or sleet. I'd rather get something more practical like a Honda Fit automobile.
Nah, for bad weather I use my 9 yr old pickup truck
The miles/BTU comparison does not have to do with miles per gallon, nor miles per dollar, but is interesting in its own right. Most of the energy that goes into an internal combustion engine goes out the tailpipe. Less than half of it goes into pushing a car down the road.
For some reason, cars running on ethanol are able to use a larger portion of the energy in their fuel into pushing the vehicle down the road than cars running on gasoline. While this fact may not be useful in and of itself, it would suggest that it might be useful to focus some research on ascertaining the reasons for the differences and using them to improve the efficiency of gasoline-powered cars.
This isn't particularly surprising, because the production steps to get gasoline are far more energy intensive than those to produce ethanol.
What an odd comparison and not true by the way. Why was it framed in terms of 'FOSSIL' energy? Your conclusion is flawed because it takes much less 'ENERGY' to produce a BTU of gasoline than it does to make a BTU of ethanol. BTU's are BTU's it doesn't matter where they come from.
Huh? Ethanol has a lower BTU rating, and its Stoichiometric ratio is 9:1, rather than gasoline's 14.7:1. Given the fact that internal combustion motors are pretty much "pumps," the more air fuel mixture we can pump in and out, increases the amount of work that motor can perform.
When you figure that ethanol contains less potential energy by mass, when compared to gasoline, and the air-fuel ratio is lower, you've got a less efficient fuel.
Mark
I believe that combustion of hydrocarbons always releases CO2, however ethanol releases far lower concentrations of CO (carbon monoxide).
Mark
The CO2 released by ethanol was taken up by the growing plant from which the ethanol was made. The ethanol cycle is carbon neutral.
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