I used to be a big Etholal fan, but not any more.

[LAP TOP GAMER]

I have learned the cost of producing ethanol are high enough that it really doesnt justify it. I also talked to a neighbor of mine that is retired from the LA transit district and he said their fleet ran ethanol powered vehicles and said if you seen what it does to engines, you wouldn't touch it.:eek2: :eek2:

 

[73shark]

And the jury's still out on whether there is a net gain in energy if you use corn as feedstock.

 

[LAP TOP GAMER]

If you factor in the loss in gas mileage and the cost of just producing ethanol there is no gain at all.

 

[73shark]

I wasn't including cost. What I meant was that if you used only ethanol to produce ethanol, would you end up with more than you started with? :crazy:

 

[wedtwuk]

More importantly, the price of popcorn has jumped 40% in one year due to a shortage of corn because it is all going to make ethanol. Even worse than that is the fact that in Mexico many of the farmers that grew the plants that they make tequila from (aguave, I believe) have dug up their fields and planted corn to get on the ethanol bandwagon so you can expect the price of Tequila to jump soon. Hydrogen is the real solution - not ethanol.

 

[07TahoeLTZ]

Sugar cane....

More importantly, the price of popcorn has jumped 40% in one year due to a shortage of corn because it is all going to make ethanol. Even worse than that is the fact that in Mexico many of the farmers that grew the plants that they make tequila from (aguave, I believe) have dug up their fields and planted corn to get on the ethanol bandwagon so you can expect the price of Tequila to jump soon. Hydrogen is the real solution - not ethanol.

Ethanol is the answer, not corn based.....if this country goes to corn based ethanol we will have a food shortage (or outrageous grocery bills) in 5 years...

 

[LAP TOP GAMER]

Ethanol is the answer, not corn based.....if this country goes to corn based ethanol we will have a food shortage (or outrageous grocery bills) in 5 years...

We need to find other sources of ethanol other than just corn, we need to reduce the cost that is incurred in producing ethanol.

 

[07TahoeLTZ]

I agree...

We need to find other sources of ethanol other than just corn, we need to reduce the cost that is incurred in producing ethanol.

We need to find a source like Brazil does...SUGAR CANE...they have seas of the stuff grown specifically for ethanol production.

 

[dcovell]

From what I understand, sugar cane based on how much energy it takes to grow and convert it to Ethonal will give back about 6 times the amount of energy as corn. Corn is a very ineffecient way to make ethonal but the farmers are getting rich and the US goverment is getting tax money from farmers that they may have otherwise had to subsidise. All in the economics.

 

[LAP TOP GAMER]

So why the hell can't we just use sugar? Brazil does it.

 

[chevyfreak]

Most places in the united states are not suited to grow sugar cane. There are some places put not many. They are already starting to produce ethanol from other sources such as switch grass(gross like a weed and hardly takes any water or fertilizer). They can produce ethanol from wood waste ie. sawdust. They can produce ethanol from the byproduct of biodeiesel, glycerin. There is a huge surplus of that stuff now.

 

[LAP TOP GAMER]

Most places in the united states are not suited to grow sugar cane. There are some places put not many. They are already starting to produce ethanol from other sources such as switch grass(gross like a weed and hardly takes any water or fertilizer). They can produce ethanol from wood waste ie. sawdust. They can produce ethanol from the byproduct of biodeiesel, glycerin. There is a huge surplus of that stuff now.

I forgot to say welcome to our forum of like minded Tahoe and Yukon owners.
I would love nothing more than to be totally independent of foreign oil, but I don't see it happening in our life time as the powerful oil companies will sabotage any effort for it to really be successful.
That and it costs as much energy producing ethanol so any savings are lost in production. The technology has a long way to go.

 

[Hardin Thicke]

I am glad to see the American farmer finally getting a piece of the action. I understand that many of them are scrambling to get their fallow fields prepped for growing corn.

 

[73shark]

Wait 'til everyone sees what using all the corn for alky does to the price of beef, pork, chicken, eggs, tortillas, etc. Third world countries are already screaming. Unintended consequences will get ya everytime.

Cellulose alky (a la switchgrass) is still in its infancy as a viable technology. We block Brazil's alky with tariffs and then subsidize E85. Talk about getting a double whammy!

 

[LAP TOP GAMER]

I don't think the ethanol will do very well until the efficiency and cost greatly improves.

 

[chevyfreak]

Advancements in ethanol are happening every day.

http://www.greenfieldethanol.com/index.php?v=1&p=4&PHPSESSID=4d014eca1faa91dcabfa9c7b87d11506#q2

They are reducing their energy use by %40 with this new method now.

BP and DuPont are also working on butanol for it to be $30-$40 a barell compared to $70 we are at now with oil. Butanol can be burned in any car without special equipment. It gets the same MPG also.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/2006-06-20-butanol_x.htm

 

[Rafael]

We cannot use sugar to produce ethanol because the govt legally sets the price of sugar at a level where it is not economical to use it to produce ethanol. In brazil they use sugar.

 

[LAP TOP GAMER]

Advancements in ethanol are happening every day.

http://www.greenfieldethanol.com/index.php?v=1&p=4&PHPSESSID=4d014eca1faa91dcabfa9c7b87d11506#q2

They are reducing their energy use by %40 with this new method now.

BP and DuPont are also working on butanol for it to be $30-$40 a barell compared to $70 we are at now with oil. Butanol can be burned in any car without special equipment. It gets the same MPG also.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/2006-06-20-butanol_x.htm

Welcome to the forum, and the developments sound promising as in time I think we can grow independent of foreign oil.

 

[diehrd]

More importantly, the price of popcorn has jumped 40% in one year due to a shortage of corn because it is all going to make ethanol. Even worse than that is the fact that in Mexico many of the farmers that grew the plants that they make tequila from (aguave, I believe) have dug up their fields and planted corn to get on the ethanol bandwagon so you can expect the price of Tequila to jump soon. Hydrogen is the real solution - not ethanol.

Hydrogen will cause more use of fossil fuels just to produce it...Ya need massive amounts of electricity to make hydrogen and With the current electrical grid technology you can forget hydrogen for a long time ..........

 

[73shark]

Welcome to the forum, and the developments sound promising as in time I think we can grow independent of foreign oil.

It would certainly help if we could just drill and use our own. China's drilling off the coast of Cuba now.