Mythbusters on Ethanol (E85)

Mythbusters

Ethanol-blended gasoline powers cars and trucks hundreds of thousands of miles across the United States each and every year. In fact, it has powered vehicles through more than 2 trillion miles in the past 25 years. It is proven to decrease air pollution, enhance engine performance and boost local, regional and national economies. Every major automaker approves and warrantees its use. Even so, there's a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding out there. The truth is ethanol is economical, efficient and earth-friendly, and in North Dakota, it's good for all of us. Get the facts, and GoE!

Myth: Ethanol makes your engine run hotter.


Fact: There's a reason many high-powered racing engines run on pure alcohol. It combusts at a lower temperature, keeping the engine cooler. Ethanol, a form of alcohol, in your fuel does the same for your engine.


Myth: Ethanol is bad for fuel injectors.


Fact: Olefins in gasoline cause deposits that can foul injectors. By comparison, ethanol burns 100 percent and leaves no residue, so it cannot contribute to the formation of deposits. Fact is, ethanol actually keeps fuel injectors cleaner and improves performance. What's more, ethanol does not increase corrosion, and it will not harm seals or valves.


Myth: Ethanol plugs fuel lines.


Fact: Ethanol actually keeps your fuel system cleaner than regular unleaded gasoline. In dirty fuel systems, ethanol loosens contaminants and residues and they can get caught in your fuel filter. In older cars, especially those manufactured before 1975, replacing the filter will solve the problem. And if you continue to use ethanol-blended gasoline, your filter will remain cleaner for improved engine performance.


Myth: Ethanol isn't safe for older vehicles.


Fact: Many older cars were designed to run on leaded gasoline, with the lead providing necessary octane for performance. However, even dramatic changes in gasoline formulation over the past few years have not affected older engine performance. Ethanol, a natural, renewable additive, raises octane levels by three points and works well in older engines.


Myth: Ethanol harms small engines, like those on lawn mowers, snowmobiles, personal watercraft and recreational vehicles.


Fact: Small engine manufacturers have made certain that their engines perform with gasoline that contains oxygenates such as ethanol. Fact is, ethanol-blended fuel can be used safely in anything that runs on unleaded gasoline.


Myth: Ethanol actually increases air pollution.


Fact: There can be no increase in emission from ethanol-blended fuels; it's the law. In fact, ethanol reduces carbon monoxide emissions by as much as 25 percent and displaces components of gasoline that produce toxic emissions that cause cancer and other diseases.


Myth: Ethanol contributes to global warming.


Fact: The energy balance for ethanol is positive, 1.35 to 1, so the greenhouse gas benefits of ethanol are also positive. Fact is, using ethanol produces 32 percent fewer emissions of greenhouse gases than gasoline for the same distance traveled.


Myth: It takes more energy to produce ethanol than it contributes.


Fact: Fact is, corn plants efficiently collect and store energy, so for every 100 BTUs of energy used to produce ethanol, 135 BTUs of ethanol are produced. In addition, ethanol facilities are extremely energy efficient.


Myth: Ethanol production wastes corn that could be used for food.


Fact: In 2001, U.S. farmers produced 9.5 billion bushels of corn and only 600 million bushels are currently used in ethanol production. Fact is, there's no shortage of corn, and the ethanol market could expand significantly without negatively impacting its availability. Besides, ethanol production uses field corn, most of which is fed to livestock, not humans. Only the starch portion of the corn kernel is used to produce ethanol. The vitamins, minerals, proteins and fiber are converted to other products such as sweeteners, corn oil and high-value livestock feed, which helps livestock producers add to the overall food supply.


Myth: Ethanol does not benefit farmers.


Fact: Demand for grain from ethanol production increases net farm income more than $1.2 billion a year, and ethanol production adds $4.5 billion to U.S. farm income annually. Studies have shown that corn prices in markets near ethanol plants will increase between 5 cents and 8 cents per bushel. In North Dakota, ethanol production increases the market price for corn by 25 cents per bushel. In addition, ethanol production accounts for a portion of the overall corn supply and helps improve corn prices nationwide.


Myth: Ethanol only benefits farmers.


Fact: The increase in net farm income results in a boost in the agricultural sector that cuts farm program costs and taxpayer outlays. Beyond that, ethanol production has been responsible for more than 40,000 jobs, or more than $1.3 billion in household income. It also directly and indirectly adds more than $6 billion to the American economy each year by boosting surrounding economies.

Sources: American Coalition of Ethanol and the Renewable Fuels Association

N.D. Department of Commerce
1600 E. Century Avenue Suite 2
Phone: 701.328.5300
info@GOeFuel.com
http://www.goefuel.com/facts/mythbusters.html

 

Are you saying that the Department of Commerce used mythbusters as a source??

 

thats awesome

 

just go look at the price of fod and tell me ethonal is not having an effect.

 

No, Im just stating I found that post on another forum and you can discuss what it says. Agree or disagree.

 

dude if your only saving 35 btu's who gives a damn. That won't fix anything. That doesn't even touch the increase in vehicles on roads. Hydrogen is the answer, along with wind and solar. We need hydrogen fuel cells and better battery technology, and further spread the usage of solar and wind generators.

BTW LMAO at the Dept of Commerce sourcing Mythbusters!!!!!!!!

oh and brazil uses sugarcane i think and other countries are using grasses that aren't used for food to produce ethanol and those plants give of something like 20x the energy of corn in the form of ethanol.

 

Ethanol IS bad for non flex fuel vehicles....

 

Yea, I heard it was bad. Like I said, I found it on fuelslut . net Florida forum. Thought it was interesting though.

 

When I was at sunoco I noticed a "contains 10% ethanol" sticker on the pump...was I hallucinating or is it in some regular (not e85) pumps?

I don't care...my flux capacitor runs solely on keystone light not corn and bananas

 

No they put it in a lot of fuels about 5-10% ethanol. Even in non E-85 pumps

 

many, if not most (at least around here), fueling stations use E-10 for higher octane fuels...Hess, for example, uses E-10 (10% ethanol, 90% gasoline) for it's premium fuels.

Good stuff.

 

10% here in Ma. for yrs

 

you forgot to mention that you get fewer miles per gallon, its barely cheaper, and the USA is not agriculturally sufficient to support widespread use, not to mention that widespread use would jack up food prices since corn is used in MANY products, overall its a bad idea for fuel...Hydrogen and fuel cells are the answer..

 

MSNBC says otherwise...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25936782/

So much conflicting stories... Lock everyone in a room and let them beat the hell out of each other. Whoever wins is right...

 

now thats just bullshit

cars have to be designed differently to reliably use E85, thus why some vehicles are certified for E85 and others are not

 

go put your car in reverse ok, let it spin backwards.

 

Whats interesting is that to protect the prices of corn, the goverment PAYS farmers to NOT GROW corn. This protects the balance of supply and demand. If all the farmers in the country could grow as much corn as they possibly could, there would be more corn grown in a year than could be consumed in 5 years, at current levels. They subsidize the industry to protect the price of corn otherwise farmers wouldn't make any money on selling corn.

 

Tagged so I can read the funny replies this afternoon.... when I get bored I'll but the ol' Alternative Energy background to use.