I've never heard anybody actually say how much ethanol costs.
Better than being a slave to the middle east and chavez forever.
I only know of one station in the NW Indiana area that has E-85. It's a station (can't remember the name ) on the south side of Rt30 near Deep River.
Luddites give it a rest already!
Look, we already pay people not to grow things, so anything we actually DO grow and turn into useful energy (ethanol) is a net gain.
Bring up hybrids and people complain they don't want little cars, they want 300hp trucks. Biodiesel? The luddites say not here. Ethanol? Not as energy efficient.
But at the same time they say no to anything other than oil they also complain about the power Chavez and the Saudis and Armeni-jihad hold over us with their oil.
Well, which one is it? Wanna be beholden to sand-lords and crazed Venezuelan Marxists, or are you willing to let the new tech emerge?
Lower mileage is merely a cost function.. if price difference is enough, lower gas mileage is acceptable.
$2 a gallon v $3 a gallon means I can get a 1/3 fewer miles to the gallon without paying any penalty other than needing to fill up more often.
Ethanol is not as energy dense as gasoline, so they will get lower mileage.
However as gasoline prices continue to rise ethanol based fuel becomes a more realistic option.
At this point private industry hasn't invested highly in producing large quantities of ethanol efficiently because it's a risky proposition.
If gas prices go back down, or the public loses interest, or environmentalists decide to oppose using land to grow crops for this, it could end up unprofitable.
However, if gasoline prices remain high or continue to rise and the public sees ethanol based fuels as a good thing, this could be very profitable, but it requires doing it on a large scale to be really cost effective.
I think that creating these flex fuel vehicles is a great idea because it gives consumers the option to use fuel that is up to 85% ethanol. If enough of these cars exist, producing ethanol based fuels on a large scale can become a viable option.
It seems very unlikely that E85 is going to become the right choice for everyone, but I like having an option that decreases our reliance on foreign countries, especially considering how many of those countries are using the wealth they gain from oil.
read tomorrow