Remember ethanol, E-85 and biodiesel next-----

[ralph47]

Hello everone,
The next time you go to the fuel depot, remember WHO produced ethanol, E-85, biodiesel, (corn and soybeans)! They are the farmers right here in the U.S.A. They are WITH us, they ARE us! Who would you rather have your money?
The next vehicle you buy, consider one that runs on E-85
(85% ethanol). I am even getting my Silverado switched to burn E-85 or regular ethanol. You CAN send a message to OPEC!
Just some thoughts,
Ralph

 

[thcri]

how much does it cost to convert a vehicle. The other thing too is in Minnesota our governor cut a bunch of funding for the ethanol plants. Will ethanol increase in price. I think they should almost make it mandatory to use ethanol to help the farmers.

murph

 

[Spanky100]

Group

I remember reading that some of the GM vehicles are allready set up to run any blend of ethanol/gas up to E-85. Fuel sensor directs engine computer to adjust for the ethanol percentage up to 85 percent. They are called Flexible Fuel Vehicles (FFV). The ones I recall are the Tahoes/Suburans/Yukons with 5.3 V-8 engines 2002 and 2003 Models, Some Silverado and Sierra full size pickups with same engine, and some S10/Sonoma's with 2.2 4 cylinder engines. Not sure on pickup model years. At the EAA Fly-in at Oshkosh WI they used to have a flight team that did an airshow with around 5 kitbuilt aircraft using 99 percent ethanol. The 1 percent gas was only added to keep the fuel (ethanol = grain alcohol) from being drinkable. The engines were 4 cylinder air cooled oposed engines. Wayne

 

[msocko3]

I'm not sure what ethanol cost per gallon but I do know Methanol was costing around $1.65 per gallon last summer, my brother uses it in his dragster. The consumption rate is another consideration when you figure you have a 300 mile range using gas you will now cut that to 150 using 100% ethanol or methanol, it requires twice the amount for these fuels vs gas. I hate OPEC but I'm not willing to spend twice the money.

 

[MJB]

On the upside methanol will give you about a 15% increase in power over gasoline in the same engine. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif I think ethanol carries a substantial performace hit on top of the milage problem if I recall correctly. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[PitbullMidwest]

<font color="blue"> I'm not sure what ethanol cost per gallon </font>

2-3 cents cheaper per gallon than lower octane "regular"

<font color="blue"> The consumption rate is another consideration when you figure you have a 300 mile range using gas you will now cut that to 150 using 100% ethanol or methanol </font>

I get better milage using 89 octane ethanol than Regular 87 octane gas. A friend has a 2000 Taurus that is a FFV and sees no difference in milage when running E-85. I am unaware of any production car that burn 100% ethanol but they would still have to meet the goverment minimum fuel efficiency standards.

Spending 2x the money is bogus, it's cheaper per gallon and your milage in most cases is at least the same.

 

[MJB]

Here is a link to a site with some infomation about alternative fuels: Link There is a PDF file linked to at the bottom of the page that gives the chemical properties for several alternative fuels. Looking at the heating value of the various fuels shows:

Gasoline: 115,000 BTU/gal
No.2 Diesel: 128,400
Methanol: 56,800
Ethanol: 76,000

Given equal engine efficiency for each fuel you would get about a 50% drop in mileage for straight methanol. Straight ethanol would reduce mileage by about 33%. Diesel would improve mileage by about 12% over gas. Hope this helps /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[kensfarm]

My buddy from the Army sent me this email...

> > > Nothing is more frustrating than the feeling that
> > > every time I fill-up the tank, I am sending my money
> > > to people who are trying to kill me, my family, and
> > > my friends.
> > >
> > > I thought it might be interesting for you to know
> > > which oil companies are the best
> > > to buy gas from and which major companies import
> > > Middle Eastern oil
> > >
> > > DON'T BUY GAS FROM THESE GAS STATIONS:
> > > Shell......................205,742,000 barrels
> > > Chevron/Texaco.............144,332,000 barrels
> > > Exxon /Mobil...............130,082,000 barrels
> > > Marathon/Speedway..........117,740,000 barrels
> > > Amoco.......................62,231,000 barrels
> > >
> > > Here are some large companies that do not import
> > > Middle Eastern oil:
> > >
> > > DO BUY GAS FROM THESE GAS STATIONS:
> > > Citgo....................0 barrels
> > > Sunoco...................0 barrels
> > > Conoco...................0 barrels
> > > Sinclair.................0 barrels
> > > BP/Phillips..............0 barrels
> > > Hess.....................0 barrels
> > >
> > > All of this information is available from the
> > > Department of Energy and each is required to state
> > > where they get their oil and how much they are
> > > importing.They report on a monthly basis. Keep this
> > > list in your car; share it with friends. Stop paying
> > > for terrorism............

 

[BigDave]

I took a look at the DOE site and there's some more insight to be shared about the companies & imports.

DOE Explanation of Oil Sources
2002 Oil Import Data


One interesting note is that Shell Oil had 205,742,000 barrels of imported oil in the e-mail, but for 2001 they only imported 69,000 barrels and 0 barrels in the first half of 2002. Sunoco which was listed as 0 barrels in the email imported 103,625,000 barrels in the first half of 2002. The first link will tell you that none of this really matters as far as where the gasoline in your car/truck came from since they use the same pipelines and resell gas to each other.

 

[DocHeb]

The current top search at Snopes.com urban legend/Internet legend web site is Stop Buying Oil from Terrorists.

Per Snopes:

Claim: Spurning gasoline from Shell, Chevron, Texaco, Exxon, and Mobil will cut off the funding of terrorists.
Status: False.

It sure would be nice if it were so simple.