Recent Comments:
Some politicians want to mandate 100% flex fuel capability {Autoblog Green}
Sep 3rd 2008 11:45PM More fuel choices is always good.. even if we NEVER burn a single gallon of ethanol. having the power to tell OPEC to go shove it when they "defend" $100 Barrel. is going to help the consumer in the long run.. oh PS.. there is a HUGE untapped sugar market in the southeast that is itching to sell their sugar to ethanol plants... they almost give their sugar away as it is.
it's not a solve all solution... we need Gen-1 corn, Gen-1 Sugar, and Gen-2 Celulostic. and it'll all help America
VIDEO: GM engineer trying to debunk some ethanol myths {Autoblog Green}
Aug 2nd 2008 8:37AM Paul, I appreciate your enthusiasm, however I can see you've never directly experimented with E85, I highly recommend doing it, it's pretty amazing.
You are right, Stoichiometric Air Fuel Ratio (complete combustion) of pure gasoline is in fact 25% greater, so In theory I have to pump 25% more fuel into the cylinders all else being equal.. however, in reality the difference is only 10% real world mileage. there is more complete combustion, and cylinder cooling effect that allow the engine to make slightly more power therefore use less fuel to travel the same distance
(27 vs 30mpg 60mpg cruse locked on flat Florida highways)
While I'm not an environMENTAL person I am behind E85 mostly due to the economic benefits. we are producing more corn then EVER, and actually even with this years floods there is more food corn being sold on the open market then ever before. (we won't even bring up all the high value distillers grain that is an ethanol byproduct) This is a direct result of the higher price.. that and there is a trend now to moving cattle back to open ranging then force feeding them corn.
so even the Food Vs. Fuel Argument does not apply in the modern open market..
I like electric too... and natural gas, and biodiesel.. I think we need a combination of all our technologies to reduce Petroleum dependency. For my Car which I Take to the track once a month, ethanol was my only option. since Good diesels and electrics are not ready for Racing duty just yet.
I can be honest. E85 works great. and when compared to the 93 octane I normally have to run to keep my 11.5:1 compression engine from knocking. I save $.80 a gallon!!!
VIDEO: GM engineer trying to debunk some ethanol myths {Autoblog Green}
Aug 1st 2008 11:29PM I have no problem, alternative fuels are a "green" topic.. I know people are ignorant, I have to explain over and over why and how I run my car (unconverted nissan sentra) on varying ethanol blends, what the difference is.. It's amazing some people honestly think it's a zero value "filler". Many keep spewing the old "it uses more fuel to make" line... but most of these are the same people that just complain about fuel prices and don't do anything about it. between my car running E-85 and My electric scooter for short trips, I've cut my petroleum usage from 36 to 3.6 gallons each month, and when I do take the car to the track, I actually SAVE money over paying for the 93 octane I used to use.
Real-world Mitsubishi i MiEV stats {Autoblog Green}
Jul 19th 2008 3:02PM Well lets plug in real-world USA numbers.
using $0.20 a KWH and $4 a gallon this the cost balance of 124 Miles per gallon. not too shabby by my standards. yea recharging is a pain in the ass.
But I'm doing the Math, a 240 volt 7000 watt (31 amp at 220V) Generator can be had for around $700 consumption at peak output should be about .4 GPH diesel or .6 Gasoline.
I'll use .5 as a average so it's about 12 hours of the generator running or 6 Gallons of fuel. that's 88 Miles per gallon if you carry a ICE Generator with you. (Wow all the sudden the volt make sense) I'll throw away 8 MPG for carrying the extra 300lbs so 80MPG.. me thinks somethings fishy.. and no that's not a Japanese pun.
Spy Shots: 2010 Kia Forte sedan on the road in MI {Autoblog}
Jul 3rd 2008 10:32PM Wow, I wondered where all the Tooling for the Saturn SL-1 went. Apparently, they are alive and well and living in Korea.
Gas prices causing drivers to blend their own ethanol {Autoblog Green}
Jun 29th 2008 6:02PM Yea I see about a 15-17% split in most places. it REALLY makes sense however when compared to super unleaded which makes that 25-27% price spread.
NOW that being said and We know that on paper we loose 25% of the fuels energy content, I am not experiencing a 25% drop in fuel economy. I am not experiencing that. now that being said the Sentra was tuned pig rich from the factory and with the alchol is closer to stoichiometric under load, but in closed loop the computer just delivers Lambda one of fuel
(optimum air fuel ratio regardless of composition)
so that means there is some inherent efficiency increase I'm experiencing over and above straight combustion.
I could be the Cylinder Charge Cooling Effect, or it could be the E85 is not as bad as people say. regardless, I can't make it burn 25% more fuel no way no how.
Gas prices causing drivers to blend their own ethanol {Autoblog Green}
Jun 29th 2008 1:01PM Great! A practice I've been doing for 2 years now. the Nissan QR25DE (Sentra SER, Altima, Rouge Etc) that I have is VERY tolerant of High ethanol blends.
I drive a Spec V which requires Super unleaded so I started adding a few gallons of E85 to regular to get my octane up where the engine would not knock. and save a Ton.. however the More I added the better it ran and I can Now go all the way to straight E85 without tripping a Check engine Light. but best power and the best economy and price per mile is found with a little regular still in the tank.
but I got 29mpg on my last tank of E85 and I only get 31 on straight 93 octane gas so the savings are very apparent.
Is Genepax for real? A car that runs on water? Highly unlikely! {Autoblog Green}
Jun 15th 2008 10:33PM I might be seeing things but it looks like the guy behind the wheel is Jason from the Friday the 13th series. I'm thinking this is someones hoax.
Greenpeace: Carbon capture is not going to save our climate {Autoblog Green}
May 7th 2008 10:28PM I don't want to be rude but this is a automotive blog with a focus on green technologies. not a green blog with the occasional auto info... I've let some posts on the boarder slip past but this blog post just is not on topic. heck throw in a PHEV reference just to have a minimal on topic content.
Choren industries opens BTL plant in Freiberg {Autoblog Green}
Apr 19th 2008 10:34AM is that the same as 200 billion litres? or does the author mean 200,000 to a million?
