Another fuel topic...

[Bennoz]

I dont care what the experts say, I'll never use any petrol with ethanol in it. 5% is 5% too much. Its proven that Aussie ethanol eats into, corodes & petrifies any rubber component in the fuel system. Things from the diaphram in the fuel pump, fuel line, fuel filters & valve seals can all be slowly eaten away. Fuel grade Ethanol is rubbish, just another way to water down the juice & profit more from selling less. Its nothing more than a by-product of petroleum refining & is better off being poured into my beer glass so I'll get pissed quickly & cheaply.

On the other hand, the Brasilian methods you talk of, are user freindly, because the fuel systems in their cars are designed / modified to take it. They can extract ethanol from the vast quantities of sugar cane with relative ease. Where as we follow US fuel standards (because we are sheep) and for yanks to get the same amount of ethanol from their primary source (maize / corn) it takes more energy to grow & harvest the crop than is produced in the ethanol.

As the world tosses up whether or not to 'go electric' on the roads (for the last 60 years) we could have been using 100% ethanol from viable sources around the world (proving automotive standards were up to it) but as with most oil companies.... the cleaner alternative sort of "disappeared"

There endeth todays ethanol lesson

[nicholas]

I dont care what the experts say, I'll never use any petrol with ethanol in it. 5% is 5% too much. Its proven that Aussie ethanol eats into, corodes & petrifies any rubber component in the fuel system. Things from the diaphram in the fuel pump, fuel line, fuel filters & valve seals can all be slowly eaten away. Fuel grade Ethanol is rubbish, just another way to water down the juice & profit more from selling less. Its nothing more than a by-product of petroleum refining & is better off being poured into my beer glass so I'll get pissed quickly & cheaply.

On the other hand, the Brasilian methods you talk of, are user freindly, because the fuel systems in their cars are designed / modified to take it. They can extract ethanol from the vast quantities of sugar cane with relative ease. Where as we follow US fuel standards (because we are sheep) and for yanks to get the same amount of ethanol from their primary source (maize / corn) it takes more energy to grow & harvest the crop than is produced in the ethanol.

As the world tosses up whether or not to 'go electric' on the roads (for the last 60 years) we could have been using 100% ethanol from viable sources around the world (proving automotive standards were up to it) but as with most oil companies.... the cleaner alternative sort of "disappeared"

There endeth todays ethanol lesson

This can be quickly distilled into:

BP Ultimate FTW!!

Seriously though mate, you can't run everything 100% off ethanol because it's made from grain... you're effectively putting fuel in competition with food, which is never good!