E85 (Ethanol) and the GM 3800

[bah]

Re: E85 (Ethanol) and the GM 3800

i think this statistic is a little off since just the USA uses around 20 million per day
that means in less than 2 months we will be completely out of oil

[Skapimp]

Re: E85 (Ethanol) and the GM 3800

i think this statistic is a little off since just the USA uses around 20 million per day
that means in less than 2 months we will be completely out of oil

edit:
found this

hahaha, yeah, sorry... I read an article before posting, but forgot the number.

hell, most stats are made up anyways.

[airattack111]

Re: E85 (Ethanol) and the GM 3800

I would think ethanol would run better than regular gas. On drag fourwheelers and stuff thats what most of the fast ones use. Allthough it does eat away the gas tank and rubber.

Can anyone explain why it would be less powerful?

[RicE-ter]

Re: E85 (Ethanol) and the GM 3800

Biodiesel isn't pure cooking oil. It's made with alcohol and other chemicals and requires a special system to process it. It's also often mixed with normal diesel to form a blend (80% normal diesel is common) that can be run in regular engines without issues. The clogging up the fuel system (usually just the filter) issue comes from biodiesel actually cleaning out the lines, but it's not a permanent issue.

I know a little about the stuff, but it's just from doing a little side work on a project at school to get school owned vehicles to it. They're not going to run on pure biodiesel though.

i knew there was a process, just not exactly what went into it. all i know is my bro told me sandiego state university made a biodiesel car and for fun put F1 fenders on it

[camaro_speedemon]

Re: E85 (Ethanol) and the GM 3800

I would think ethanol would run better than regular gas. On drag fourwheelers and stuff thats what most of the fast ones use. Allthough it does eat away the gas tank and rubber.

Can anyone explain why it would be less powerful?

It's not less powerful, just less fuel effecient.

[V6Bob]

Re: E85 (Ethanol) and the GM 3800

Plus we WILL run out of oil. It may be 5 years away, it maybe 50 years away, it may be 100 years away, no one knows. Wouldn't it be better to start switching now and have a renewable energy source?

Depends on what you mean by "running out". When we hit the worldwide production peak and start going down, $75/barrel will look cheap. That point is probably more than 5 years away, but almost surely less than 50.

We need to do a great many things about energy, including ethanol.

Good book - "The End of Oil".

[camaro_speedemon]

Re: E85 (Ethanol) and the GM 3800

Depends on what you mean by "running out". When we hit the worldwide production peak and start going down, $75/barrel will look cheap. That point is probably more than 5 years away, but almost surely less than 50.

We need to do a great many things about energy, including ethanol.

Good book - "The End of Oil".

By running out, I mean running out, as in no more oil. We'd be better off converting to E85 or some other kind of alternative fuel sooner then later. If we deplete oil supplies, the whole world would litterally come to a stop. Everything that is made of plastic, or has plastic in it comes from oil. So you can imagine the havock that would reak.

[AZ3.8Camaro]

Re: E85 (Ethanol) and the GM 3800

There are a lot of problems with people's knowledge on ethanol.

First and foremost, it is different than METHANOL.
METHANOL
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methanol
Methanol is wood alcohol and is very corrosive, especially to rubber, aluminum, etc. Makes great power.

ETHANOL
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanol
Ethanol is essentially made from sugars. In the us it comes from corn. It is not really corrosive. You can and do drink it. (often you will see corn pictures on everclear bottles, this is why). It burns entirely clear, so it is mixed with 10% gasoline so that is can be seen while burning for safety. It is cheaper than gas, and as supply increases, prices will drop insanely. Corn is a renewable resource also.

The problem right now is that the stoich. A/F ratio of ethanol is near 9.0:1. This means that you need almost twice as much ethanol as you would gas to make the the same power, and that means fuel economy suffers. I read somewhere that it is not uncommon for a 30MPG to get 20MPG on ethanol. (not quite half the fuels economy).
Right now it isn't cheaper really, unless you have a FFV vehicle that is built with ethanol in mind. They run butter on ethanol and will typically not lose as much fuel economy when on ethanol.

Hope that helps.

[SpeedingFirebird]

Re: E85 (Ethanol) and the GM 3800

hell, most stats are made up anyways.

Yes. About 75% of them.

[xFirex99]

Re: E85 (Ethanol) and the GM 3800

Just a little lesson from the cars in Brazil (which has ALOT of sugar cane crops for ethanol)/. They place an inexpensive sensor in the fuel system to determine what type of fuel is the tank (ratio of ethanol to gasoline) and the computer adjusts the engine operation to compensate for the fuel mixture. PS, up in here in Canada we are starting to produce ALOT more ethanol, a new ethanol/biodiesel plant here in Lloydminster will be operational this fall. Our ethanol plant will consume 1000 tons of grains each day & will produce 40,000 barrels of ethanol a day. Just a drop in the bucket, but its better than nothing. Alot of improvements are made with each plant that goes up. Thus if we keep throwing money at it, it will get better. Keep in mind that we may never say goodbye to gasoline, but we could make it last alot longer if ethanol/biodiesel becomes more viable/cheaper.

[4thgenowner]

Re: E85 (Ethanol) and the GM 3800

Make a car run on carbohhydrates, noodles are easy and inexpensive...