Should you have any questions about ethanol, pick up the August issue of Discover magazine.

It's coming.

Anybody else wanna be a switchgrass farmer?

 

Good news! and can not wait!!! Capitalism is finally working in the auto fuel department.

 

Yeah I know….the construction company I work for got a 60 day contract last month to install two completely new wet rail lines here in Fort Worth to specifically unload ethanol. The one wet line they already had at the rail yard is taking its first delivery of ethanol this week actually. BNSF (the owner) is pushing us hard to beat the completion date if possible. They are really ready to deliver this stuff.

 

The more Ethanol the better. Ethanol seems to be the fuel that makes everyone happy (except big oil and the Saudis).

The big question is, will the Camaro be the first Ethanol powered sports car? 320HP AFM/DoD E85 5.3L is my prefered engine for the next Camaro. A higher compression version tuned for 91 octane and 350HP would be even better.

 

My favorite think about ethanol is that it's about 110 octane, which means we can run really high compression and/or high boost on what will eventually become known as "pump gas".

Forced induction cars will become more common, completely negating ethanol's energy density disadvantage.

 

And by "capitalism" you mean "massive government kickbacks". (Not that the oil business hasn't gotten their share either.)

 

Heh...

Figured that one was coming...

 

No. I ment Big oil has stopped alternative fuels for a long time. I am aware that they paid large purses to government officals. I just like seeing a competing market-hence capitalism.

 

Guys,

I see a day when ethanol "refineries" can be packaged in small enough designs as to be at your household.......hell, there's been 'stills' in them thar' hills for centuries...

Seriously though, think about it......take all your grass clippings and wood debris...or people can join corn / switchgrass co-ops with local farms for raw materials.

I see a real opportunity for businesses etc....

 

Hey.. it beats spending money fighting wars for oil.

Sometime only the government can afford to take risks on extremely large projects like this. I'm all for gov't help that takes us one step closer to 100% energy independence.

I thought about that with all the grass and leave pickups every fall/spring. It's a lot of Bio mass

 

LOL, this is a good reason for cutting my grass.

 

I was thinkning the exact same thing, although I wonder if the engines will have to be built heavier to handle the higher compresion.

For my money though, I still favor diesels in everything non-performance. I can't remember but I read somewhere bio-diesel can be made out of many more things than can alternative spark-ignition-gasses.

 

I know what you're getting at, but the economics of ethanol depend entirely on the level of government subsidy. The oil industry has recieved some direct and trillions in indirect subsidies, but nobody's paying them to pump it out of the ground.

Anyone who's lived in the midwest knows that ethanol subsidies are a huge political issue, and I wouldn't underestimate Detroit's political saavy with "E85", putting them in alliance with ADM and the farm lobby.

(Which isn't to say that I'm not a big supporter of energy independence!)

 

I’m not very into economics on a global scale, but shouldn’t government subsidies tailor off once there is a larger movement towards ethanol? I mean once there is a larger demand for it, the money to make it will come from the people buying it not the government.

Am I thinking too simplistic and missing something?

 

I believe soybeans is one of the renewable crops that's used in biodiesel production. Just this weekend filled up with B20 Bio-Willie biodiesel at Carl's corner in Hillsboro Texas on the way to New Braunfels. On the way back to Dallas topped off the tank with more B20.

It would be nice to see some support of biodiesel by the manufacturers with increasing content of bio over the next X amount of years. Something with a progressive future roadmap to finally support 100% bio or a much larger percentage than what's available via on road pumps currently (B20 biodiesel 80% petroleum and 20% bio). You can get higher concentrations of bio all the way up to B100, it's just not readily available at station pumps. The manufacturers also haven't produced much documentation or certified their diesel motors with bio and what percentages are acceptable. Though I do think Dodge and or Cummins has issued a statement that it's okay to run B20 in their motors.

You got to start somewhere, and every little bit has to help in some small way.