Both are alcohols, oxygenated fuels. But I prefer ethanol mainly because methanol is corrosive and carcenogenic.I mentioned that about using e85 instead of methanol in another forum and people kinda shrugged it off im glad im not the only one who realizes the similarity between methenol and ethenol besides the name
You clearly have no idea what you are talking about...a gimmick it is not.The only thing you'll gain from E85 is an engine that runs less efficiently and rougher over time. It's a gimmick. You're not saving the planet running on corn.
Sorry I missed this earlier. This is the beauty of closed loop systems. Your AFR's will trim to compensate, given the ECU doesn't run out of range. If you have a properly tuned ECU, you can run ~40% E85 without running out of range.That's a dangerous game - E85 is a lot less dense and you need to inject a lot more volume to avoid a lean condition.
By mixing it with normal gas, you automatically run leaner than ever designed......
The problem is that corn based ethanol production is, in short, stupid. IF all corn production in the us was used for ethanol, we could cover less than 30% of the country's fuel needs. Also ethanol uses tons of fossil fuels in the production/distribution anyway. So its not exactly the green solution everyone claims it is.no fighting up there.
There is some amazing potential that is yet to be unleased from E85. I swear people who knock E85 either were paid off by the oil companies or just havent really looked into it.
E85 does burn at a higher thermal efficiency then gasoline hence the "knock-proof" mentioned above. The only draw back is that the energy contained within a fixed volume of ethanol is slightly less then that of gasoline hence a reduction in overall fuel economy.
But just as the oil companies have purchased and squashed high tech battery research they also try to spread propoganda about the vegetable based fuels.
But in the long term future, would you rather drive a prius or a snarling turbocharged internal combustion engine that will have less of an impact on the enviroment during its lifetime then the creation/replacement/disposal of your prius' batteries.
I'm no green freak as i get 10mpg at the most on my worked wrx without cats, but imagine if we didnt need cats, egr valves, and emissions air pumps because the NOX emmissions were removed solely by the use of 100% ethenol, reverting us back to the days of simple engines w mega horsepower(60's era).
Maybe this post will be viewed as a bit abstract but its just an educated opinion as I have done a bunch of research as far as converting cars and whats involved, drawbacks etc.
Sole use of ethanol in the US would allow farmers to grow their crops without being subsidized by the goverment to not grow(allowing the control of corn prices) and would make us self sufficient with a little bit cleaner of a fuel.
Just my opinion.
I didn't really want to steer the conversation this way, but yes, corn isn't an ideal fuel crop. Too hard on the ground, not to mention the supply issues.The problem is that corn based ethanol production is, in short, stupid. IF all corn production in the us was used for ethanol, we could cover less than 30% of the country's fuel needs. Also ethanol uses tons of fossil fuels in the production/distribution anyway. So its not exactly the green solution everyone claims it is.
However, it is a very good fuel, and it has great potential in turbocharged vehicles. Definitely something that should become popular in motorsports as its basically "green" race fuel.
I'm all for green stuff (I am an environmental science major lol), but I prefer things being designed efficiently in the first place rather than gadgets (for example, the 40mpg of an early lotus elise is much more impressive than the 40-50mpg of our prius).
The problem is that corn based ethanol production is, in short, stupid. IF all corn production in the us was used for ethanol, we could cover less than 30% of the country's fuel needs. Also ethanol uses tons of fossil fuels in the production/distribution anyway. So its not exactly the green solution everyone claims it is.
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THe current corn production isnt even close to what it could be though, the government has been paying farmers for years to not grow crops so the bottom of the crop prices didnt drop out. There is an unfathomable amount of land just sitting unused and highly out of crop-rotation that could be used for growing things. In essence The plant is the worlds most efficient solar panel and we need to realize that.
I didn't really want to steer the conversation this way, but yes, corn isn't an ideal fuel crop. Too hard on the ground, not to mention the supply issues.
But, there are many other options, folks just need to think out of the box. Cereal manufacturers flush out sugar water out of there plants in large volumes. Drainage ditches can be lined with cattails. Saw dust. Jerusalem artichokes. Sugarcane in the south. There are so many options its not funny, and we wouldn't have to tap into food production....
Solar and wind could drive vacuum distilleries.
For every concern about food supply and environmentalism, there are so many solutions...