Alternate Route
has an interesting blog up about ethanol, and about how it's going to save us all from the satins of OPEC—or not. My big grip with ethanol, besides what's mentioned in this blog, is that the infrastructure is severely lacking. The last time I checked (6 months ago) there were maybe 3 or 4 ethanol stations within 50 miles of me. High interest with lousy availability is not exactly a great recipe for success...
ateixeira says:
11:03 AM, 08/29/07
Most people with flex fuel vehicles just run straight gas for that exact reason.
estreka says:
05:58 PM, 08/29/07
Another big reason is cost-effectiveness. E85 is a poorer fuel than gasoline and the cost is roughly the same.
billt9 says:
10:30 PM, 08/29/07
flex fuel vehicles are like stocking up on water and canned foods in case of an emergency.
If a day comes where the gasoline is suddenly gone, or prices shoot sky high (war, politics), we can quickly bring E85 online, since the vehicles on the road are already compatible.
One could imagine gas stations can just dump E85 into their existing gas tanks/pumps, since E85 vehicles run on any fuel mix between regular 10% ethanol gasoline to 85% ethanol E85. No new facilities are needed at the gas stations... unless the pumps aren't ethanol proof... in which case they will still run a while before breaking =D.
estreka says:
10:55 PM, 08/29/07
billt - Interesting thought. I had always viewed ethanol as a stopgap solution and more of a publicity of eco-friendliness than an actual legitimate prolonged alternative source of fuel. Unfortunately, the facts remain the same. Ethanol just isn't an acceptable medium of energy. It's not efficient (relatively speaking of course). It's hard on the soil. And it can't be produced in large enough quantities to satisfy the demands of the world.
While one can indeed view ethanol as an emergency ration in a post-gasoline holocaust, I have my reservations about the auto industry's actual intentions for the product.