what do you know about E10 gas?

[Crayon]

discuss. anything about it. feelings, observations, etc.

PLEASE!

no one will refute me... anywhere... people just fall back on this horrible ignorant tree-hugging down with big petroleum standpoint. i feel like i'm going crazy. i don't like the facts and numbers i see. i actually want to formally protest it. i'd post on PC too, but i'd look like too much of a noob doing it.

[Latka]

It burns and makes the cars go...and it's definitely a renewable energy source.

I don't think that one has to be a "tree hugger" to not like big oil. Granted, their profits are nowhere near as big as the pharmacutical companies - but I don't shove pills in my gas tank, either.

I think any move away from "straight" gasoline is a good thing. E10, E85, biodiesel, hydrogen, etc... all good ideas. There is a finite amount of oil in the ground that can be refined for our cars - and with 'emerging' economies like thirsty China, we're going to go through that reserve at an exponential pace, not a linear one.

I firmly believe that the reason we don't have more alternate fuel sources today is because of the powerful oil company lobby power. They have money, and money is truly what makes the world go around.

From what I recall reading (I don't have the stats in front of me), E85 burns cleaner but makes slightly less power than straight gasoline. I'd say that the fact that you can grow more each year offsets that though...

The only reason I can see someone standing up and protesting Ethanol or any other alternate fuel is because they have stock in Oil companies.

-Andy

[Latka]

So where'd you go, Crayon?

[Latka]

"I think part of the blames are the activist who don't want to drill in Alaska"

You're kidding, right? Alaska is one of the last areas of our country with wide open nature preserves...and we're going to *drill for oil* there?

What would you think if the oil was in Hawaii? Would you like to see oil rig platforms off the shore of Honolulu?

You can talk about the cost of bread and milk, but I will bet a month's salary that you can't run your car on either of them.

The more I read about E85 and ethanol in general it looks like it's *not* the golden bullet that some would make it out to be. Is it a start? Yes. Will it eliminate our dependance on foreign oil? Probably ...if we shift the entire country's crop output to corn!

That's another interesting point - huuuuuuuge corn subsidies comin around now.

Ethanol produces less power per volume than gasoline does. That means you need more... which means that the Ethanol better cost way less to produce.

I don't think it's the end all be all of our energy problems, but I do think it's a start. Having two "old" oil men running our country currently doesn't help, that's for damn sure.

[ArchangelX]

I actually don't know that much about the entire issue, but it's obvious that "big oil" controls a large amount of the "political" process, if you catch my drift. They have the power to lobby heavily...and the power to make decisions simply because of their dominance.

I think it's extremely sad that were STILL so heavily dependant on oil. It's not going to last forever, and I really appreciate companies, like Mazda, that are pushing the boundaries and looking more to the future. Their Hydrogen RE is a step in the right direction, IMHO.

Baby steps...welps...there's going to come a time when baby steps are simply too small.

Great discussion, keep it up, I enjoy these immensely.

[Latka]

I found the Car & Driver article on Ethanol. It is definitely worth a read if you want to learn more about what's going on.

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/11174/tech-stuff-ethanol-promises.html

[ArchangelX]

Ah...great. Thanks Andy...I need to catch up. :)

[Latka]

It's a bit of a read, but it's the entire article that was recently in C&D. Turned out a few things I thought were correct are in fact...not!

[REH]

I believe it blew up my motor. Tuners beware!

[Latka]

They said that as you increase the ethanol, the problems with fuel lines and whatnot will increase. Older cars didn't use pipes, they used a lot of rubber. From what I am told, the high alcohol content of E85 would mean a lot of fix-it for classic car owners.

...not to mention now we're introducing a whole nother layer of gas powered vehicles that have to help TAKE the corn and whatnot to the refineries to be processed. (sigh)

It's a big mess. Ethanol is a good thing I think, but it's not quite the golden bullet that some would make it out to be.