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Hybrid Vehicles Hybrid Vehicles - Archived Discussions Will ethanol E85 catch on in the US? Will we Live Green and Go Yellow? 
2104 messages, Last post on Oct 27, 2006 at 5:34 AM
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Replying to: kw5kw (Oct 20, 2006 10:57 am) We have that already. It's called the Internal Combustion Engine. And the efficiency (BTU's in the fuel converted to forward motion) is SUBSTANTIALLY higher than burning a fuel (whether it is gasoline, wood pulp, paper, or recycled cow farts) in a steam boiler (particularly if you are trying to have a boiler in a closed system driving a generator to produce on-board electricity to drive a motor). There's a big reason that locomotives converted from coal-burning steam power to big diesel electrics. It's called progress. |
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Replying to: gagrice (Oct 19, 2006 4:48 pm) "Ethanol-only cars were sold in Brazil in significant numbers between 1980 and 1995; between 1983 and 1988, they accounted for over 90% of the sales." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanol_fuel_in_Brazil I have worked with another large standardization group called NSF. In general they, like UL, seem to do a decent job. However, I have noticed that as they have gotten larger they become bureaucratic and a bit self serving. Not saying this is the case with UL, but boy, the timing just seems a bit odd. In the end, I don't think it is going to make a big difference.
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Replying to: avalon02wh (Oct 21, 2006 5:34 am) It does seem strange that they have had E85 for several years. Maybe UL is just slow on the up take. Or maybe the folks at the various fire depts were not doing their job all this time. Just letting it slide. After all it is big business in the midwest. We still only have ONE commercial E85 pump in all of CA. If it gets shut down, who will notice. |
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Replying to: gagrice (Oct 13, 2006 7:00 pm) I would agree that towns, local and state governments often roll out the red carpet for businesses. Call centers and auto plants are good examples. Some work, some go bust. The big difference this time around is that oil and gasoline prices will remain high enough that ethanol will be able to make it in the long run (E10, not so much of the E85). Demand for the oil from the USA, China, Europe and India will keep prices higher. Supply is still fine but we will pay more. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Oil_Prices_1861_2006.jpg I am guessing that most people saw the recent headlines "Demand for gasoline surges as prices take a dive" http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/2006-10-19-driving-more-usat_x.h- tm and the OPEC decision to try and cut output by 1.2 MBD. This should stop oil prices from dropping. We may even see an increase in gasoline prices back up into the $2.50 range. On a side note: You mentioned water. In my view, water or lack of, will be the single biggest issue that slows or stops construction of new ethanol plants after the current expansion. Some plants are breaking ground before they have secured water permits - a big problem. In one example I am aware of, a plant assumed the city wells they would inherit had the needed 1,500 gallon per minute capacity. Nope. The wells were only capable of half that rate. The oil sand projects in Canada seem to be running into water issues too.
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Replying to: avalon02wh (Oct 21, 2006 6:17 am) |
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| I was just pricing out a new Ford Crew Cab PU. The price to add flex fuel is $895. They are both 5.4L V8 engines. I guess Ford cannot afford to just give that option to the green buyer. So much for selling many of them. Pay more money to lose money. | |
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Ethanol shortages have helped push up gas prices and generate huge profits for producers (not farmers). July 12th—National Academy of Science report confirms zFacts' analysis and much more. Bio-diesel has some merit, ethanol is an expensive loser http://zfacts.com/p/35.html http://zfacts.com/p/60.html |
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Excerpts from the NY Times, June 25, 2006 Farmers are seeing little of the huge profits ethanol refiners like Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) are banking. ... The ethanol explosion began in the 1970's and 1980's, when ADM's chief executive, Dwayne O. Andreas, was a generous campaign contributor and well-known figure in the halls of Congress who helped push the idea of transforming corn into fuel. Given the glut in corn, the early strategy of Mr. Andreas was to drum up interest in ethanol on the state level among corn farmers and persuade Washington to provide generous tax incentives. But in 1990, when Congress mandated the use of a supplement in gasoline to help limit emissions, ADM lost out to the oil industry, which won the right to use the cheaper methyl tertiary butyl ether, or MTBE, derived from natural gas, to fill the 10 percent fuel requirement. Past Scandal Adding to its woes, ADM was marred by scandal in 1996 when several company executives, including one of the sons of Mr. Andreas, were convicted of conspiracy to fix lysine markets. The company was fined $100 million. Since then, ADM's direct political clout in Washington may have waned a bit but it still pursues its policy preferences through a series of trade organizations, notably the Renewable Fuels Association. ... But ADM has not lost interest in promoting ethanol among farm organizations, politicians and the news media. It is by far the biggest beneficiary of more than $2 billion in government subsidies the ethanol industry receives each year, via a 51-cent-a-gallon tax credit given to refiners and blenders that mix ethanol into their gasoline. ADM will earn an estimated $1.3 billion from ethanol alone in the 2007 fiscal year, up from $556 million this year, said David Driscoll, a food manufacturing analyst at Citigroup. ... ADM has huge production facilities that dwarf those of its competitors. With seven big plants, the company controls 1.1 billion gallons of ethanol production, or about 24 percent of the country's capacity. ADM can make more than four times what VeraSun, ADM's closest ethanol rival, can produce. Last year, spurred by soaring energy prices, the ethanol lobby broke through in its long campaign to win acceptance outside the corn belt, inserting a provision in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 that calls for the use of 5 billion gallons a year of ethanol by 2007, growing to at least 7.5 billion gallons in 2012. The industry is now expected to produce about 6 billion gallons next year. ... |
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Since we're moving away from these huge discussions, and this one has become a catch-all for anything E85, let's close this one down and start up new discussions as issues arise. From scanning the E85 news today, let's start with this one: Problems with the Pumps Using E85? Please feel free to create new discussions as addtional E85 related issues or questions arise. What we want to avoid is trying to talk about every issue in one discussion. Thanks for your help in making this group a great source of information and discussion about E85. |
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