Thanks for making me aware of this odious bill!
I WILL contact my congressman, in opposition.
The true cost of alky fuel are clearly manipulated in this article, they do not reflect the true expense.
Not only are the tax’s and subsidies not mentioned, neither are the inefficiencies of alcohol production.
The real agenda here is clearly to force all older cars off the road, screwing around with our fuel could do that pretty quickly.
I will NEVER own a “Flex-Fuel”, “Hybrid” or Electric” car, I’m keeping my pre-computer fossil fuel cars for life, the subsidy hungry alky lobby can kiss my @$$!
I don’t think methanol is subsidized.
You are wrong. This bill provides choices. Under the bill, you could still use gasoline, if you choose to, and you can keep your old gasoline powered vehicle, if you want to. Personally, I like the idea of being able to choose for myself and not have fuel choices dictated by energy lobbyists and politicians.
Not only are the tax’s and subsidies not mentioned, neither are the inefficiencies of alcohol production.
You are right to challenge any suggestion that alcohol made from corn is contributes to energy independence or in any other way is of any particular benefit to the public. Corn alcohol, however, is ethanol, and the article discusses and advocates for a different chemical, methanol, which although it is an alcohol isEthanol, which is being crammed down out throats and is therefore about 10% of the "gasoline" we find at the gas station, is subsidized.
- poisonous and non-potable, and
- manufactured from natural gas (a.k.a. methane).
OTOH Methanol is not subsidized because there is no political gain to promoting its use when you are stumping for electoral votes in the Iowa Caucus. It is only half the price of gasoline, but it also is only half the fuel value. Its advantage over gasoline lies in its octane rating which the article says is 109. He boasts that he didn't have to increase the compression ration to get good (on a miles per dollar, not miles per gallon) fuel economy. But speaking as one with a degree in mechanical engineering, I assure you that he would have gotten even better results if he had increased the compression ratio. The advantage of simply advancing the spark instead is that he had no mechanical change to make in order to switch between methanol and gasoline.
The other advantage is of course that the natural gas to convert to methane is under our dirt rather than coming from the Middle East. Which means American business opportunities and American jobs - not to mention, American tax revenues - rather than exporting hundreds of billions of dollars to people who don't have our best interests at heart.