Joy of 6

Audi, Corvette, etc are wrapping their arms around this fuel source as the "proper thing to do for the enviroment" With the price of corn going through the roof this is becoming a financial disaster. E-85 is not as efficient as gasoline and you need to burn more of it due to reduced mileage. So this starts the vicious upward circle of cereal prices, pig feed, corn oil, etc that are part of household comsumables.

I think it is time for the auto manufacturers to call a halt to this and try to figure out something different. Otherwise we will need a home equity loan to go to Safeway.

John Shiels

It is only one small solution to fuel. GM has stated that on many occassions. They have a new process with a comapny that will make fuel form many organic sources and waste products, even old tires.

Aardwolf

Didn't we just have a big thread on this? E85 may come from different sources in the future so don't get so upset. Read the recent thread everything got covered IMO.

parkerracing

As explained in the other post, sugar cane stores more energy and gives back more than it takes to make (unlike corn which is 1 unit out, one unit back). So far the corn lobby has a bigger voice than the 'cane lobby. /:\

KBlanke

The cellulosic ethanol that will power Corvette Racing is made from waste wood collected in the Black Hills National Forest as part of a wildfire prevention program. Undergrowth and dead trees that would otherwise be burned are converted to cellulosic ethanol at a pilot plant in Upton, Wyo., operated by the KL Process Design Group. The cellulosic ethanol made from waste wood is identical to conventional grain-based ethanol. The Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC), the leader in bringing "green" fuels to motorsports, contracted KL Process Design Group to provide the cellulosic E85 racing ethanol used by Corvette Racing.

AUTO_X_AL

If GM and Coskata can make this work I could easily see this as a viable alternative fuel.

http://www.coskata.com/AboutFAQ.asp

By their math this process is somewhere around 5x more efficient than corn based ethanol and the process to produce it. With GM being a big backer and their "Green" agenda this could materialize into a realistic money saver. Corn was just getting ethanol in the door. I don't see it being a long term solution by any means.

jkonkle

I would agree that ethanol from sources other than corn, i.e. agricultural fusion, is imperative. Corn based ethanol is an economic disaster, combined with the broader need for feed stocks globally - it's going to get worse.

If the ground waste in forests is an option, then I see loggers as pendulum-ically sweeping to the side of conservationists. Ethanol will continue to get a bad wrap until corn based production is halted, which is the right thing to do. It's not like prohibition; all e85 cars would run fine on regular gas if those pumps dried up.

In the end, our higher corn, food, etc prices are feeding the ethanol development/research.

JK

AZ FASTEST

My avatar wants to meet your avatar!

CDN_Wolf_eh

I was at the Sebring presentation ... and the fact that the process involves pine wood, and wood/bio-mass waste was very interesting ... plus the production plant is powered by the ethoanol, making it a closed loop system.

I would like to invest in their company!