Ethenol fuel the con.
 

I had a discussion with a mate the other day about the benefits of Ethanol fuel. He thought it was good I didn't. So I did a bit of quick research... Cars,Cows and people produce Carbon Dioxide and Methane. Methane is eventualy oxidised the atmosphere to produce carbon dioxide. In cars every atom of carbon in the ethanol burned produces one molecule of carbon dioxide. Over the life of a cow running corn / grain or a car running on ethanol,they both produce the same carbon emissions from the same plant input. Ethanol ties up heaps of good cropping land, uses a lot of fuel to harvest,plant and transport the grain then lots more energy to ferment,distil and distribute, then more energy is used to make,transport and apply fertiliser . So through this stupidity, ethanol production consumes more energy than it produces. It is a inferior motor fuel it produces lowerKm/Litre and can also damage some engines. Ethanol is subsidised, it increases the tax burden,pushes up prices of grain,beef,pork,eggs,milk and cereal. We pay for tax breakes for the construction of ethanol plants etc. And last if not least it harms the hungry of the world. What do you think?

Re: Ethenol fuel the con.
 

Ethanol is made from the waste products of the processing of sugar canes into starch and other products. It has a lower CO2 output per litre than unleaded, it has a higher octane rating which means you can run more timing and produce more power than unleaded and I have no idea how you would think it pushes prices up ofgrain, beef, pork etc. as it is a Bi product of a process that is already taking place.

I suggest you keep researching.

Re: Ethenol fuel the con.
 

Mate Ethanol is not only made from sugar cane. Suggest you do more research.

In Australia it's made from sugar cane.

Re: Ethenol fuel the con.
 

Brazil has been using it for years...

Ethanol is not a con, its is one of the few (besides vege oil re-use) successful, reliable and cheap alternatives to non-renewable fossil fuels that work on internal combustion engines.

If you have a better suggestion , i'd like to hear it.

Re: Ethenol fuel the con.
 

http://www.choice.com.au/reviews-and...-biofuels.aspx

http://www.motoring.com.au/news/2010...-ethanol-20281

Reduced mileage is the reason i wont go near it but if mileage wasnt a issue & my car was tuned/built for it then the increased hp would sway me.

cheers, Maka

Re: Ethenol fuel the con.
 

there are pro's and con's same as most things in life

Re: Ethenol fuel the con.
 

Mileage V Price per litre is not a lot more than 98 pulp.

With an average increase of power over 50hp and cooler running engine and a more responsive throttle and the sweet exhaust smell I would run it all the time if it was on pump in Perth.

Re: Ethenol fuel the con.
 

But once the rain forests are replaced with ethanol crops we will have no air to breath. It's not a long term solution just yet I don't think.

I believe hydrogen will be the future.

Re: Ethenol fuel the con.
 

I've only used the e10 stuff , the motor pinged like a ***** on the stuff, wont use it again, correct me if I'm wrong the stuff is also hydroscopic/absorbs water and is corrosive.

Re: Ethqenol fuel the con.
 

If ethanol fuel is truly more 'powerful' then why is it listed with less BTU's than non-ethanol petrol?

Hint: it ain't more powerful and hence your mileage will suffer , yet another green waste your money scheme

Re: Ethenol fuel the con.
 

Yep your right mate!! I wouldn;t put this **** in my lawn mower :lol
I know for a fact that 2 stroke 200hp merucry outboard motors wont run on it more so wont even start and its a known
fact now to stay away from it for boats !

Re: Ethenol fuel the con.
 

The corrosiveness only comes to art on some components due to the presence of too much water. But where does the water come from...it shouldn't be in your tank, but from poorly maintained underground tanks and transport vehicles, that would induce water into your tanks anyway.

There is a lot of talk about rubber being corroded, however, there is no rubber in most cars fuel systems theses days, this is because of the chemicals that are present in modern un-leaded fuels, that ate through rubber lines.

Ethanol's problems lay in the fact that it "cleans" fuels systems, so any crap that already exists in your tank/filer/lines is carried though to your engine.


Hence why ethanol can be (and is) produced from the waste matter of sugar/corn (or any waste plant material) production. This helps reduce the food or fuel effect (and any forest cleaning)

I too hope for Hydrogen fuel in internal combustion engines, but it think we are still a far way from seeing the common use of it as a fuel.

Re: Ethenol fuel the con.
 

there is moisture in the air.
E85 does not clean, it has corrosive properties and can appear to be cleaning built up gunk in the fuel system, it can corrode different types of metals, plastics and rubbers and modern cars still have all these in their fuel systems.
E85 can make more power if tuned for it

Re: Ethenol fuel the con.
 

If ethanol is so great the price reduction should reflect the excess fuel economy it gives ,not just the 2c price difference

Re: Ethenol fuel the con.
 

Ethanol CAN be made from waste products, but is not ONLY made from it.
Do more researching.

Re: Ethenol fuel the con.
 

Pray tell how can e10/e85/e100 possibly make more power than conventional gasoline?

Here is the BTU for the various blends.

Fuel BTU/unit (all in US gallons)
Gasoline (base) 114,000 BTU/gal
Ethanol (E100) 76,100 BTU/gal
Ethanol (E85) 81,800 BTU/gal
Ethanol (E10) 111,836 BTU/gal

Other fuel types:

Diesel 129,500 BTU/gal
Biodiesel (B100) 118,300 BTU/gal
Biodiesel (B20) 127,250 BTU/gal
Liquid natural gas (LNG) 75,000 BTU/gal

In general terms the more BTU's per fuel type then the more bang per drop and the better mileage, hence why diesel gets better mileage and why LNG needs roughly twice the gallons as regular gasoline to go the same distance.

Re: Ethenol fuel the con.
 

More octane more timing allowed so more torque/power with ethanol fuels.
I went from 98 to 100 octane e10 and it used the same amount of fuel with the same power so the lower BTU from the 100 wasn't a factor on economy even in a 1.9T car.

United E85 is 25c a litre cheaper than regular everyday as well.....E-flex from Caltex is allot dearer in Adelaide but not sure on interstate.

I run a E48 blend(E85 and 100 octane Premium) and see 14.0ltrs/100kms around town with a average speed of 26kmh/r now so economy is great imo:)

If you use 3/4 to full throttle she drinks a darn lot harder than premium but that only applies for track days really....the results are more than worth the 30% extra consumption when under WOT conditions at any rpm.

More power,less boost and a cooler running engine is enough for me to stay switched.

My everyday driving has allot less effort now when getting up to speed limits with the E48 tune which I really like....possibly more than the added torque/power at less boost than before.

A bit of research before using higher than 10% ethanol for compatibility should be done though from ones self.
A hose from Gates called "Barricade" is suitable for 100% alcohol so I use this off the surge tank nipples.
A upgraded fuel filter with metal media is also a good idea.

The factory rail hoses and plastic in-tank lines on BA> Falcons are capable of withstanding E85 but the fuel filters glue is not quite at home with it from inspections on my car.They are still holding together but its obvious they are being affected somewhat.

I have also noticed the O-rings in fuel regulator to be a little less pliable but still serviceable no worries for now.
This is after 4000kms of daily driving as well.

Finally,anything that lifts the need to rely on oil has got to be a good thing.
The cleaner burning of the fuel is a bonus for generations to come as well:)

Re: Ethenol fuel the con.
 

as mentioned E85 has a higher octane and allows more spark advance, but at the same time uses roughly 30% more fuel to do the job.

Any ethanol based fuel will use more fuel than unleaded fuel in a car that is operated in closed loop fuel control.

I am yet to be shown by anybody except for hearsay that the ford fuel system is compatible with high ethanol content fuels.

Gates have had issues with their barricade hose and have only recently changed the formula, they have put this down to possibly our ethanol comes from sugar cane where in the states where they are based the ethanol comes from mainly corn

Re: Ethenol fuel the con.
 

I think people are being a little disingenuous, ethanol makes more power than gasoline, but to make the extra power +30% more ethanol fuel is required :yelrotflm

It sounds alot like, my car will beat your car over the standing 1/4 but to do so I'll start the race at the 300m mark and use more fuel too.

Re: Ethenol fuel the con.
 

so diesel is the most powerful fuel, not nitro methane?
economy comes from higher BTU, but power comes from oxygenated fuels.

E85 108~112 ron
verses PULP 98 ron

Re: Ethenol fuel the con.
 

Huh???

Re: Ethenol fuel the con.
 

:weirdoSo what are you saying? Should we all be driving Cows instead of Cars? Or running our cars on Beef?

Re: Ethenol fuel the con.
 

Yep you need the hose with the letter A on the end of the carb number ratter.

My old e10 tune used 12.8ish around town at the same average speed so yes you will use more fuel with a higher ethanol content in closed loop.

I have had other hose issues and this is why I can say the Ford lines will be good for at least 4k as this is the stage I am up to with them trouble free unless someone has a bad quality control batch.

What has ethanol done to you Cheap lol?

Re: Ethenol fuel the con.
 

I've used the stuff and it fails to impress. When compared to normal gasoline, ethanol (E10) it delivers worse mileage (in my case usually 10% worse) whilst being only 2% cheaper in price. If it were 10% cheaper and delivered 10% worse mileage - then that would be fair, but it doesn't make financial sense to buy the stuff. I doubt it makes any difference to the environment since we have to burn more of the stuff to do the same work.

I could say that E10 is total rubbish, but that would probably raise the ire of the pro-ethanol team :lol

Re: Ethenol fuel the con.
 

E10 is junk.

E85 is where its at for cheap high performance fuel.

I asked the place that is doing the dyno tune on my EL Falcon, they said its only worth it on N/A engines running sky high compression or cars with forced induction, everything else its a waste of time, they said I'd get some benefit over 98, but use nearly twice as much fuel to go the same distance, in a Falcon that'd be about 300km lol.

Re: Ethenol fuel the con.
 

my WM caprice is e85 compatible and here are my findings...

98ron fuel i average between 12-13L/100. Cost in canberra is up around 1.66 per litre. Usually get 490-530km per tank...

e10 i average 12.5-13.5L/100 with the cost being about 1.50. Usually get 450-520 per tank

e85 i average about 15-16l/100 with the cost being about 1.30. Usually good for 350-420 per tank


E85 was roughly on par with 98 in terms of cost per km. But the car pulled so much harder and felt a lot more responsive than 98.

I usually fill up with a mix of 95 or e10... 95 and e10 give me the best mileage and probably works out cheaper in the long run. E85 gives me a tank of fun!

IF E85 pricing worked out to be the equivelant cost of e10 per km, i'd use it all the time.

I'm hoping that FPV make the GT/GS cars E85 compatible in the near future... I'd love a tuned GT on e85....

Not sure how people can't see the value in e10 though? for my caprice, it works out to be the cheapest fuel to use per km... Performance between 98 and e10 is barely any different in my car. As such, i'll usually run 95 and throw the odd e10 or e85 in it.

Re: Ethenol fuel the con.
 

My E10 100 octane tune used the same amount of fuel as 98 octane but the E10 had better performance for the same boost pressure....go figure:lol

Just because you have had no success with it doesn't mean you need to promote cheap shots regarding the fuel.

As for you doubting it makes no difference to the environment how about providing some facts regarding that statement.

Re: Ethenol fuel the con.
 

Your post is a little hard to decipher do you mean E85 or E10 is pointless in your application.

Why is E10 junk?

Re: Ethenol fuel the con.
 

in my caar:
98 gives me 400 rwkw

e85 give 460 rwkw

but its the responsiveness that is the good part, it gets up a boogies so much earlier - obviously you need it tuned for this. I use almost exactly 30% more fuel per km than 98 though (roughly works out the same cost wise)