Bdox, my sentiments exactly. All we have to do is get the politicians to move on it. I understand Brazil uses it exclusively, and has for years. Thay make it from sugar cane.

 

I know you're a smart guy, but I think you figures might be off a little.

My area, gas today, best price for regular was $3.349 and other stations were as high as $3.799 per gal. The market is changing fast and it looks like it will be $4.00 or more this summer. If we were to go E85 in a big way, it would sell for a lot less and ultimately bring down the petro prices.

We have a lot of unused land that can be used for growing sugar beets and sugar cane. Corn is mostly what is used now and it is less economical.

 

Which numbers? I'll double check.

Last night our gas dropped from $2.65 to $2.59. That's the biggest drop we've had in a while. It usuall drops 1 or 2 cents a week for a month or so, then jumps up 15 cents overnight.

It seems odd to me that even though the price of fuel has doubled in the last year or two that the different grades are still separated by a dime. I think the best way to save fuel would be to start building engines that make use of the increased octane of premium fuel and let the added mileage offset the fuel cost.

 

OK, I know why the numbers don't jive. The aircraft study I read was correct. However, light aircraft are operated almost entirely at high power levels. E85 works much better at lower power levels even though the mileage is about 10-15% lower than gasoline. At higher power levels E85 doesn't do so well. I saw one test with two identical GM trucks, one filled with E85 and one with gasoline. They were driven around a track at 35 mph. The gas truck got 28 mpg and the E85 truck got 25. However, on the highway the gas truck was still getting about 25 mpg and the E85 truck had dropped to 17. It's pretty close in town, but on the highway I think gas is still cheaper. E85 will also go up in price as demand increases and it takes some kind of fuel to make E85 so it might not help gas prices any to use it.

 

hi well here in my town you can get the 10% blend stuff which is higher octane than regular and the same price and our 2000 ford runs fine on it and i'd much rather my 2.79 a gollon go to uncle joe in nebraska than prince aby dubecadafeio in sadia ariabia or some place like that.

 

SS, remember it is an overall market thing. Supply and demand. If we were to produce just half of our fuel from plants the lower demand for petro would force the price down.

Brazil is now energy independent, running E85 exclusively.

 

How many vehicles does Brazil have to support per acre of land available for generating sources of E85? I am in favor of E85, but it's not going to be the miracle fuel that it is being advertised as.

 

I would like to see E50. Thats five Zero. Didn't the Germans have a synthetic fuel in WWII? I'am showing my age. I know they were working on it.

 

The Germans ran their war effort on fuel made from coal.

 

SS it's not a question of being a miracle fuel. It is a matter of energy independance. Same a biodiesel. It is worth doing for the sake of our farm industry. It is worth doing for the purpose of cutting OPEC off at the ankles. It is worth doing because of the jobs it can generate if it's done on a large scale. Our trade imbalance is hundred of billions of dollars per year and changing over to bio fuels can go a long way toward correcting that.

Also to be considered is that if bio fuels are produced in mass quantities then petro prices have to come down.

 

I agree with Bdox. It has been needing to be done for a long time. The way I look at it, the more we can screw them over, the better. Let us not forget how they all feel about Americans! Also, if America would switch to produce based fuels, eventually the price would go down. Lets say for example that fossil fuels are at $3.00 per gallon at this moment. If they were to introduce produce based fuels for, say $2.50 per gallon, more people would buy it because it's cheaper. Who cares if it is less economical, it is what is better for America. I understand alot of people these days aren't very patriotic, apparently Bdox and I are. You also have to think about the big picture; the long run. Once manufacturing and processing plants for produce based fuels are in place, the price of the fuels would go down. And whether the fuels were sold for $.50 a gallon, or the current $3.00 price, it doesn't really matter. What does matter is that the money would be going back into American taxpayer's pockets, which means it boosts our economy. I would love to see gasoline and diesel fuel go the way of that which they come from. Not because I'm a tree hugger, or because I <3 the environment, but because it would be good for America.

 

Just found this, don't know any more than what's in the site. I just emailed it to a friend in Indy who is a PHD chemist for his take on it. I will post his reply.

http://www.butanol.com/

 

I like that even better!