How about a thread...................

[srkruzich]

The biggest problem with ethenol is that it destroys seals and gaskets.   TBI injection utiliizes one or two injectors in the carb.  They have orings in them that hold the injector pressure steady and the ethenol eats these seals.  IT also will eat and destroy valves in the engine UNLESS you have special valves in it that are made for burning ethenol. 

The OLDER cars like my pickup with a old fashioned carb, can burn it but you need to install valves that will withstand the alchohol.  You can run pure alchohol in the older engines with those valve modifications.

[Varmit]

Ethnaol was one of the biggest debacles of our enegry history.  Why we were so taken with the stuff is beyond me (I'm sure it has nothing to do with the 5.5 million the corn lobby gave to politicians from 2005 to 2008).  After a $56.1 billion taxpayer investment what did we get in return?...Really expensive corn flakes.

Subsidies were supposed to lower the cost of corn, which would in turn be used to create cheap fuel, this was supposed to lead to a greater production of cars that ran on the stuff and we would all be driving around in vehicles powered by a crop grown right here in America....ehh, not so much.

What actually happened is that subsidies caused farmers to chase the money and use their crops for ethanol production instead of food production.  That led to a full one-quarter of Americas corn crop being used for ethanol, which meant there wasn't enough left over for food.  That raised the prices on a slew of things like beef and other corn products.

As if that wasn't bad enough, all this was done because of flawed research and based on the idea that it would be better for the enviroment.  If a little more research had been done they just might have found out that Corn ethanol is 30% less efficient than gasoline and far less efficient than Sugar ethanol.  Not only that, but it is Worse for the enviroment than regular gas.

So, my solution would be to open more areas in the United States for drilling.  It would lower our dependence on foregin oil, provide much needed jobs, better the economy, not to mention lower gas prices.  Use this to sustain us while research is done on viable alternative enegry sources.

[pamsback]

 Yeah Varmit it would....for aWHILE. Fact of the matter is the oil AIN'T gonna last forever, we've managed to seriously deplete in just over a hundred years what took millions to make so supply is NOT gonna keep up with demand.

This algae ethanol thing is worth lookin into....like Steve said a few changes in engine construction and you are good to go. The problem was little old ladies pulled into the station,saw this E85 was almost a dollar cheaper a gallon and didn't know any better, burned up their valves.

Oil is the lifeblood of this planet and when it's gone it's gone, I think we should change our modus operandi BEFORE that happens, it's just common sense.

I lived with pumpjacks in my backyard for years, believe it or not I pumped a lease for a couple of years, granted it was a small one but the small ones have the same problems and breakdowns as the big ones. I grew up on money Dad made in the oil field, Joe worked in the oil field for years, my grandad worked in the oil fields years ago when all those ghost towns in greenwood county were oil camps. I made my livin for the last 6 years putting on vinyl siding which is a petroleum product. I should be hardcore FOR oil but I'm not. We have to move on and find a better way.

[srkruzich]

Yeah Varmit it would....for aWHILE. Fact of the matter is the oil AIN'T gonna last forever, we've managed to seriously deplete in just over a hundred years what took millions to make so supply is NOT gonna keep up with demand.

This algae ethanol thing is worth lookin into....like Steve said a few changes in engine construction and you are good to go. The problem was little old ladies pulled into the station,saw this E85 was almost a dollar cheaper a gallon and didn't know any better, burned up their valves.

Oil is the lifeblood of this planet and when it's gone it's gone, I think we should change our modus operandi BEFORE that happens, it's just common sense.

I lived with pumpjacks in my backyard for years, believe it or not I pumped a lease for a couple of years, granted it was a small one but the small ones have the same problems and breakdowns as the big ones. I grew up on money Dad made in the oil field, Joe worked in the oil field for years, my grandad worked in the oil fields years ago when all those ghost towns in greenwood county were oil camps. I made my livin for the last 6 years putting on vinyl siding which is a petroleum product. I should be hardcore FOR oil but I'm not. We have to move on and find a better way.

Well E85 is unsustainable and i am totally against using our food as a fuel source.  We saw what happened last couple years, our food prices skyrocketed because of it.  Also alchohol isn't efficient enough to run engines today even with the modifications.  It doesn't have enough BTU's in it.  Thats why they mix it with gasoline, cause it won't work.  Try driving in areas that aren't flat  and you'll find out why you don't run e85 or even e10 i think they call it.   It sucks.

[pamsback]

Yeah..I know! Hell they couldn't get cars to run on GAS when they started. Have to have people who are willing to figure it out.

[Varmit]

Don't get me wrong pam, I agree with you to a point about oil.  I'm not saying that we should drill and thats it.  But that it would give us more of a cushion while we found an alternative.  But that alternative needs to be a viable one, not like the corn thing.  Who knows, the alge might be worth checking out.  What I don't want to see happen is that we jump on any alternative that comes along (i.e. wind, solar) without some exteremly hardcore research.

[pamsback]

 I agree with that Billy......it's not gonna happen overnight but we have to keep lookin...the problem is when oil gets cheaper people quit thinkin about alternatives   I'm all for cheaper gas and more drillin WILL get that short term but it's just a bandaid!

[pepelect]

  Try driving in areas that aren't flat  and you'll find out why you don't run e85 or even e10 i think they call it.   It sucks.

I drove all through the Colorado Rockies on E85 and didn't have an issue with the flexfuel gm product.  I only lost 1mile per gallon compared to what we get with regular unleaded at home.  Water down the oil is a short term fix for a long term problem.  Algae, biomass, and fuel cells are going to change our personal energy in our lifetime. 

I bet water is the next oil. 

[pamsback]

I bet water is the next oil.

God I hope not.

[srkruzich]

  Try driving in areas that aren't flat  and you'll find out why you don't run e85 or even e10 i think they call it.   It sucks.

I drove all through the Colorado Rockies on E85 and didn't have an issue with the flexfuel gm product.  I only lost 1mile per gallon compared to what we get with regular unleaded at home.  Water down the oil is a short term fix for a long term problem.  Algae, biomass, and fuel cells are going to change our personal energy in our lifetime. 

I bet water is the next oil. 

well you lose pulling power with e85.  Just not enough btus for it.    I know bootleggers used it for running liquor back years ago, but they also had high compression engines with a 10:1 or 11:1 compression ratio.   They don't make anything that high except for diesels these days.