[SEL] Corn-gas a BUST!

[Steve W.]

Here is a small item. If you took ALL the corn currently grown and 
converted it to ethanol. You would come up with 12% of the fuel used in 
the US. The last number I saw basically said that in order to use corn 
alcohol for total replacement it would mean putting ALL the croplands 
available in the US into corn production. No corn left for food or any 
other use.

Oh and the 10% you are using is the same thing that has been sold in the 
US since 1990. It is what most regular gas is now.

The problem with flex fuel vehicles is that they don't use either fuel 
as well as one designed for just alcohol or gas. Timing, compression, 
and fuel flow all are different to get the best performance out of each 
fuel.




Peter Lowe wrote:
> You ever driven across the USA and see how much corn you guys produce. All 
> we saw for days and days was corn when we drove across in 1999 and 2003.
> We use sugar cane here for ethanol.
> My car uses 10% ethanol 90% unleaded and runs fine.
> 
> The Pajero TR4 Flex, featuring a 2.0-liter engine capable on running on 
> blends from 100% gasoline to 100% ethanol, was launched in July of this 
> year.
> 
>>From Brazil:
> Brazil produced 4 billion gallons of ethanol in 2004, some 37 percent of the 
> world total, while the U.S. churned out 3.4 billion gallons, 31 percent of 
> the world's share. The country also exported 634 million gallons -- 112 
> million of that to the U.S. -- and its government is pushing to clear more 
> land for production. Its vast size and tropical climate are perfect for the 
> production of sugar cane, which is said to have better energy conversion 
> rates than corn, the primary source for ethanol in the U.S. What's more, 
> Brazilian producers burn cellulosic stalk of sugar cane to make energy that 
> fuels the entire industrial process. That is why their production costs are 
> half that of corn.
> 
> I guess the downfall here is we lose our rainforests.
> 
> Ain't Politics grand
> 
> Peter, Oz
> 

-- 
Steve W.
Near Cooperstown, New York