Biofuels Digest Readers for Energy Independence

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Comment by Jim Lane on July 10, 2008 at 4:58pm

Friends,

Just a correction point on ethanol mileage. Ethanol does have 30 percent less BTUs than a gallon of gas and a 20 percent higher octane rating. How that plays out will depend on the engine. An engine properly tuned for ethanol will get the same mileage with E85 as gasoline.

Not every engine is tuned for high octane - so there is often a mileage loss, but it is in the engine not the fuel. A test with GM vehicles recently showed a higher mileage for E30 than straight gasoline.

http://biofuelsdigest.com/blog2/2007/12/06/american-coalition-on-ethanol-tests-show-that-e20-e30-cars-get-better-mileage-than-conventional-gasoline/

It's a complex issue, so I thought this would help sort out some disagreements for everyone here.

Regards,
Jim Lane
jlane@biofuelsdigest.com

Comment by tom Kuchnicki on July 10, 2008 at 2:50pm

Mr. Adams is correct in most of his ethanol comments, However, Ethanol is not going to help the economy and IS NOT a good short term answer to high fuel prices, assuming ethanol sells for the same price as gasoline. Ethanol has 30% less energy than gasoline so if your vehicle gets 24MPG on gasoline it will only get 17 MPG on ethanol. That means a 30% increase in your fuel bill if you use E-85 Ethanol.
A better fix tostart weeding ourselves of imported oil is to mandate 10% ethanol in all gasolines. Every vehicle has the ability to run on 10% ethanol and will not have the drastic drop in fuel economy of E-85.
Another fact. even E-85 is not usable at temperatures below 0F
Winter grade ethanol is something like E-70

Comment by Kevin Adams on July 10, 2008 at 10:10am

Hi,

I am a proponent of ethanol fuels. When E85 became available in my area about 2 years ago I discovered my 2003 Suburban was already equipped to run E85. I am sure there are many people driving E85 GM vehicles that do not even realize it.

Ethanol is getting a bad rap from the media. Most of the arguements against it seem logical on the surface, but when you look into it you will find that most are absurd.

For example, you may have heard news reporters state that the government mandates corn based ethanol. This is false. The feds do not mandate that ethanol be made from corn. They also ignore the uses of byproducts from ethanol and try to make a comparison to gasoline accounting for the byproducts of gas.

Byproducts of ethanol production are water, heat, and mash - all which have legitimate uses. The water can be used for irrigation, heat for buildings, and mash as pig feed.

Ethanol facilities can be built in less than 6 months, sometimes in less than 1 month. They can be built at the input material source.

In contrast, refining gasoline yeilds some nasty biproducts like benzine. Refineries take many years to build. The yield of gasoline from a 42 gallon barrel of oil is only 19 to 26 gallons. Oil refineries expell pollutants and noxious odors.


The Federal government offers free permits to those who want to make their own ethanol for their own use, but they also have reulations against converting existing vehicles to ethanol.

Ethanol is a good short term answer to high fuel prices.

Kevin Adams
Parker, CO

Comment by Brett Horvath on July 9, 2008 at 1:44pm

Hey Folks,

Thanks for taking the lead and creating a group. This is exactly what we are going to need to sustain this campaign and realize its goals.

My name's Brett and I'm the Director of Online Organizing for PickensPlan. I want to be as helpful as possible in making this group work for you, and coordinating with the rest of the campaign.

Here's a link to a discussion on tips for a successful group:

http://push.pickensplan.com/group/organizers/forum/topic/show?id=2187034%3ATopic%3A232

That's a great place to start. Also, feel free to send me a message at Brett@PickensPlan.com at any time. Let me know what I can do to help you out in the coming days and weeks. I look forward to working with you.

Brett.

Comment by John D. Cochran on July 9, 2008 at 10:00am

If only about 5% of the capital invested in petroleum production during the last seventy-five years had been spent on biofuels, we might have $1.00 motor fuel right now. It would all be carbon-neutral or carbon-favorable, and there would still be enough food to go around; all because of a dramatic impact of technology transfers into the mainstream production paradigm.

Comment by CATSoares on July 9, 2008 at 2:07am

Dear Jim, thanks for the invitation.
I think wind farming is, really, something the USA ought to explore further.
One question though, on alternative fuels: with so many already available why don´t US vehicle manfrs expand the offer of flexi-engines to their customers ?Brazil offers such options that allow the use of oil based gas, ethanol and LNG or LPG.
Rgds
CATSoares

Comment by Pogo on July 8, 2008 at 8:48pm

Jim Thanks for the invitation.
This is real important and I probably will expand on the plan. As a result I will make some think and unintentionally make others mad. Appologies in advance for those I make mad.

Comment by Jim Lane on July 8, 2008 at 5:07pm

From the Pickens Plan: "Natural gas and bio-fuels are the only domestic energy sources used for transportation."

Comment by Jim Lane on July 8, 2008 at 4:51pm

Welcome to the Biofuels Digest readers group page for the Pickens Plan.

The Digest will carefully track developments, bring supporters together, and circulate criticism.,

For those help Biofuels Digest readers who wish to take action for energy independence, I hope this site provides you with a base of operations.

If you choose to oppose or wish to amend the plan, I hope this site gives you the information you need to fight an idea with a better idea.

Regards,

Jim Lane
Editor, Biofuels Digest

Comment by Bill Mollring on July 8, 2008 at 3:39pm

I look forward to watching your group's progress and updates. For more information on Mariah Power's Windspire please contact me at mrbillmaui@yahoo.com or 831 402-2037
http://www.emsystems.net
Our group site at Pickins Plan is listed as: Mariah Power.
Thank you and Aloha. Bill Mollring

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