Keep the flame alive

All right we are going to have a rally!!! Let’s go to Lafayette Square in Washington DC across from the White House on Nov 8th. We have got to keep alternative fuels alive. This time we have to change over to a fuel for our autos that makes sense. If we can get just 1% of the funding that goes into the war effort we could do great things for alternative fuels.

I have heard a lot about ethanol and how it is not the fuel of the future because it does not deliver as many BTU’s per gallon and so it will actually cause us to consume more fuel per vehicle and we will end up at the pumps much more often. Take a look at this enlightening article from Consumer Reports to see for your self why ethanol is just not good for us. Here are just a few quotes:

"But after putting a 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe FFV through an array of fuel economy, acceleration, and emissions tests, and interviewing more than 50 experts on ethanol fuel, CR determined that E85 will cost consumers more money than gasoline and that there are concerns about whether the government’s support of flexible-fuel vehicles(FFVs) is really helping the U.S. achieve energy independence. Among our findings:

· The fuel economy of the Tahoe dropped 27 percent when running on E85 compared with gasoline, from an already low 14 mpg overall to 10 mpg (rounded to the nearest mpg). This is the lowest fuel mileage we’ve gotten from any vehicle in recent years.
· With the retail pump price of E85 averaging $2.91 per gallon in August, according to the Oil Price Information Service, which tracks petroleum and other fuel prices, a 27 percent fuel-economy penalty means drivers would have paid an average of $3.99 for the energy equivalent of a gallon of gasoline.
· When we calculated the Tahoe’s driving range, we found that it decreased to about 300 miles on a full tank of E85 compared with about 440 on gasoline. So you have to fill up more often with E85.
· The majority of FFVs are large vehicles like the Tahoe that get relatively poor fuel economy even on gasoline. So they will cost you a lot at the pump, no matter which fuel you use.
· Because E85 is primarily sold in the upper Midwest, most drivers in the country have no access to the fuel, even if they want it. For our Tahoe test, for example, we had to blend our own (see The great E85 fuel hunt).
· The FFV surge is being motivated by generous fuel-economy credits that auto-makers get for every FFV they build, even if it never runs on E85. This allows them to pump out more gas-guzzling large SUVs and pickups, which is resulting in the consumption of many times more gallons of gasoline than E85 now replaces."

Consumer Reports "The ethanol myth"

And I agree with this conclusion, because ethanol is the wrong fuel for the future. But as you have heard me say many times in the past , butanol is the fuel for the future. It can be made of the same feed stocks as ethanol and produce the same number of gallons. But the great thing about butanol over ethanol, is your car thinks it is burning gasoline and so it gets the same gas mileage plus no changes have to be made to the auto sitting out in your drive way or garage right now. It will just work the same as gasoline. Look at these great attributes of butanol:

"Butanol has many superior properties as an alternative fuel when compared to ethanol. These include:
· Higher energy content (110,000 Btu’s per gallon for butanol vs. 84,000 Btu per gallon for ethanol). Gasoline contains about 115,000 Btu’s per gallon.
· Butanol is six times less “evaporative” than ethanol and 13.5 times less evaporative than gasoline, making it safer to use as an oxygenate in Arizona, California and other states, thereby eliminating the need for very special blends during the summer and winter months.
· Butanol can be shipped through existing fuel pipelines where ethanol must be transported via rail, barge or truck
· Butanol can be used as a replacement for gasoline gallon for gallon e.g. 100%, or any other percentage. Ethanol can only be used as an additive to gasoline up to about 85% and then only after significant modifications to the engine. Worldwide 10% ethanol blends predominate."

Please go to this site and read more about the benefits of butanol. Butanol is an alcohol that replaces gasoline!

This is it folks. The holy grail of alternative fuels. Don’t look any farther and don’t let the bad press about ethanol kill the whole concept of alternative energy fuels. It is just that the majority of people have latched onto the wrong Alternative fuel including the Bush administration. So do it. Just say No to ethanol and Yes to butanol, OK. Alright.