Date:         Fri, 25 Jan 2008 19:30:20 -0800
Reply-To:     sam mccarthy <sfcompost@YAHOO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         sam mccarthy <sfcompost@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      Re: Dollar a gallon ethanol production?
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

There is the problem of the alcohol corroding certain metals( the pipe) and rubber ( maybe seals) that i have read about which poses major hurdles for distribution.
Plus.... due to the lower energy content of the alcohol, you have to give the engine more of it(larger jets in the carburetor, or different injector timing)  versus gasoline. This equates to lower miles per gallon, think your van has a short range now??? try 40% less. I think thats the figure.  Some of the loss in energy content can be recovered by modifying the engine to take advantage of the higher octane (104) versus say premium (91 or 92). Can you say "pull the engine, send to - insert favorite re-builder - order up high compression modifications, and alcohol resistant injection system.
I was hot to use alcohol at one time, but the fact that when its made from corn, the costs, including the pesticides and fertilizers used to grow it, ruin the economics changed my mind.  If you're driving a chevy with a V8 and simple  carburetor its not too difficult or expensive.  Honestly, I can't see many folks running stock vanagons on ethanol.  Maybe someone building Subaru engines will put one together designed for alcohol.  Until then, i will have to use biodiesel in my soon-to-be TDI van. Biodiesel can be used with no modifications. And it can be made from the millions of barrels of waste vegetable oil we already have.  I really can't wait for someone to come up with cheap, incredible batteries so we can quit the whole infernal combustion fixation.
Imagine an engine in your car thats as reliable as your blender.  When was the last time you had your blender tuned up???
Imagine no cooling system to flush and maintain, no engine oil to change, almost no toxic fluids to keep from leaking out.
I can't wait!!!
Sam M.
Automatic digest processor <LISTSERV@GERRY.VANAGON.COM> wrote:




Date:    Fri, 25 Jan 2008 13:25:29 -0600
From:    Jim Felder
Subject: Re: Dollar a gallon ethanol production?

I read last year the the distribution is that alcohol can't be run through
existing pipelines... the molecules are too small and they leak. Ethanol has
to be trucked from the point of manufacture to wherever it is mixed with the
gas, a big energy cost right there.
Jim

 It's
> kinda amusing how the article suggests that there's no infrastructure
> for ethanol distribution.... Can it really be that hard to adapt the
> infrastructure already in place to distribute gasoline, with that big
> a cost differential??
>
> Happy Trails,
>
> Greg Potts
> 1973/74/77/79 Westfakia "Bob The Tomato
> www.pottsfamily.ca
> www.busesofthecorn.com
>

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