Filed under: Ethanol
VIDEO: Mahalo Daily visits Conserv Fuel
We told you about Conserv Fuel in Brentwood CA a couple of weeks ago when they had a one-day sale on E85 sponsored by General Motors. The lovely and talented Veronica Belmont of Mahalo Daily headed down to SoCal for the big sale and had a chat with a rep from GM about ethanol. While the GM guy mentioned that E85 was cheaper than gasoline at Conserv Fuel (a station focusing on biofuels, although they sell gas too) he neglected to mention that engines running on E85 need to use more of the fuel to go a given distance. They do talk a bit about cellulosic ethanol toward the end. The drivers who stopped to fill up on E85 did seemed to have bought into the ethanol propoganda hook, line and sinker and seemed oblivious to any of the issues related to the biofuel.
[Source: Mahalo Daily, thanks to Conrad for the tip]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Bob Moffitt (Bob from ALAMN) 3:12PM (3/05/2008)
Er, "propoganda," Sam?
Need I remind the faithfull readers of Autoblog Green of the many "issues" related to petroleum?
In any case, congrats to CA for finally getting a few E85 stations.
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rgseidl 4:45PM (3/05/2008)
Indeed, by volume ethanol contains just 70% of the energy that gasoline does. E85 comes in at around 75%, so to be competitive with gasoline ($3.34 at this station) a gallon of fermented corn juice blend should cost no more than $2.49. Actual price: $2.99, a hidden markup of $0.50/gallon.
This steep premium is due in part to the fact that ethanol has to be transported via rail or truck from the Midwest. Perhaps someone could farm Spirogyra algae in Vertigro systems and ferment the starch - up to 64% by weight in this species - directly into ethanol. This should be cheaper than Coskata's syngas route.
Just one percent of California's land area - preferably multiple sites that are not used for agriculture - should be plenty to produce enough E85 for all the FFV already on its roads, with room for many more. Algaculture can use treated effluent from sewage works. Enrichment with CO2 from gas-fired power stations or biomethane production would further increase yields.
http://www.oilgae.com/algae/comp/comp.html
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8298456592372641428&q=vertigro&total=17&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=3
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Bob Moffitt (Bob from ALAMN) 5:09PM (3/05/2008)
I love it when one of you guys play with the numbers and tell us what a gallon of E85 "should cost."
Why don't you try that trick with gallon of regular unleaded? Be sure to list all of petroluem's "hidden costs," too.
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rgseidl 6:14PM (3/05/2008)
@ Bob Moffitt -
I calculated the price at which E85 would deliver the same heating value per dollar as gasoline. The cost of refining and distributing that gasoline is already reflected in its price.
As for "hidden" costs such as overthrowing rogue governments that use their oil revenue in ways that threaten the stability of the world economy, any sane energy policy ought to factor them into the equation - in which case, all conservation efforts and renewable sources would instantly appear in a completely different light. Unfortunately, the US is now a bellicose nation with no coherent energy policy at all - never mind a sane one.
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MikeW 7:23PM (3/05/2008)
Don't forget when it is winter, like now [35F high today], that it is E70.
The price only needs to be 20%, instead of 25% less for BTU parity.
How do those wackos in California think that 45mpg is achievable with such crappy fuel. 87,89,91 and the sulfur content. See page 2
http://media.gm.com/division/2004_prodinfo/tech_displays/powertrain/direct_injection.pdf
We need 87,90,93. I wouldn't care if we had 86,90,93 like Europe.
The strawman that ethanol is 'cleaner burning' is nonsense. It isn't the fuel, it is the engine. [direct injection-good, carburetors-bad] The trace emissions come from the crevice areas.
That is why iEGR is better than eEGR.
See point 2, on page 7.
http://www.mechadyne-int.com/vva-reference/papers/the-impact-of-variable-valve-actuation-on-engine-performance-and-emissions.pdf
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