With a nod to full
disclosure, adding an oxygenate isn't the only technical
reason for using alcohol. As mentioned earlier, it also has
a much higher octane rating than gasoline. Think Indy cars
with 14-1 compression (might be even higher by now). That is
why, as mentioned earlier, leeching the alcohol out will
leave a gas with a much lower octane rating; the alcohol
replaces some of the octane enhancers that were previously
added to the fuel.
Actually, I think that alcohol is a pretty good fuel for
piston engines, & it will work fine for rotaries, even
though they don't need the extra octane (just kinda tough on
the fiberglass fuel tank guys, both a/c & boats). But I
also think that we have a hard time separating technical
issues from political issues. That's why I made the comment
that alcohol wouldn't be in gas without the corn lobby. If
it had been put there for technical reasons, we'd be using
sugar cane like Brazil, or sugar beets, or switch grass, or
even kudzu, but not corn, because while corn does have a
slightly positive net energy yield, it's far and away the
worst of all the available sources. It's use in gas is
driving food costs through the roof for us and the rest of
the world, too. I read recently that around 30% of our corn
production now goes into fuel instead of food, and corn is
in *every* food product that's bought in a package.
The 'corn lobby' is obviously the euphemism for giant farm
production conglomerates.
Now, isn't everyone happy that the 'conservative' Supreme
Court has now ruled that corporations can contribute
unlimited, undocumented money to political campaigns?
Charlie
On 5/14/2011 1:08 PM,
wrjjrs@aol.com wrote:
Mike,
The real problem is that using ethanol to begin with is
junk science. All a oxygenate in your fuel does is make
you get poorer mileage. All modern fi cars richen the
mixture automatically until the O2 sensor says nada. If
can cost a full 1-2 mpg.
Bill Jepson