Ethanol is BAD for Engines!

Biotechnologists (ever hear of them before?) are saying that ethanol is NOT the answer for a replacement as a fuel. Ethanol will cause corrosion in car engines in only a couple years.

Ethanol, Schmethanol

And when Henry Ford was experimenting with car engines a century ago, he tried ethanol out as a fuel. But he rejected it—and for good reason. The amount of heat you get from burning a litre of ethanol is a third less than that from a litre of petrol. What is more, it absorbs water from the atmosphere. Unless it is mixed with some other fuel, such as petrol, the result is corrosion that can wreck an engine's seals in a couple of years. So why is ethanol suddenly back in fashion? That is the question many biotechnologists in America have recently asked themselves.

I don't know about you, but I can't afford an engine overhaul every couple years.

It looks like the ethanol dream is dieing a slow death before it even gets going, which is probably a good thing according to this article and this other article that I posted.

www.abovepolitics.com...



[edit on 29/9/07 by Keyhole]

My old patrol Car is "Flex Fuel"

It is still running using E85, has been for over 4 years now with no major problems...It is currently over 150K

My New Impala is also "Flex", currently at 18K and running fine on E85

So personally I have not experienced anything negative other than if you don't mix Gas into it when it is cold, it does not want to start in the Mornings...


Semper

I think what they meant in the article is 100% ethanol.

E85 is a mixture of gasoline and ethanol.

E85 - Wikipedia

E85 is an alcohol fuel mixture that typically contains a mixture of up to 85% denatured fuel ethanol and gasoline or other hydrocarbon by volume. On an undenatured basis, the ethanol component ranges from 70% to 83%.

Ethanol is good for Archer Daniels Midland, and whatever's good for ADM is good for the politicians to whom they make campaign contributions (bribes), and that's the ONLY thing that really matters, sadly.

Cool...

The only thing I have noticed is a marked reduction in mileage with the E85..

Anytime I go out of town, I have to run regular gas or I wind up filling up at every station...

Semepr

I'm against any engine...

That has to use spark plugs. Gas/ethanol engines have awful thermal efficiency ratings... The sooner we convert to diesel the better... They can run on any percentage of bio, and there's plenty of WVO that can be converted, making it a true renewable fuel.