Comments on: Study: E85 Hurts Environment Up To 33 Percent Worse Than Conventional Gasoline

By: greg45

greg45 — Sat, 21 Jul 2012 20:00:17 +0000

This is definitely a very suprising stat to me. I thought it was definitely better for the environment. Unsure what to think about this at all. www.alarmforcecomplaints.ca

By: K C

K C — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 18:37:35 +0000

Very little corn gets irrigated, so why did the study use an assumption of irrigation on corn? And why consider indirect land use as if we are cutting down forests for additional corn? Fact is the acreage of cropland in the USA is less now than at any point in the past 50+ years.

This study seems to me to be flawed at best, and propaganda at worst. Did big oil pay for this study?

By: Mike C.

Mike C. — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 21:05:09 +0000

The only reason I can think of why we don’t use Butyl is the corn belt doesn’t grow whatever grassy crop needed to produce it. This stuff seems great and requires a lot less resources to grow/harvest it. You can run 85% butyl alcohol without modifying your engine at all from 100% gasoline. E85 requires extensive engine mods.

By: David Lyttle

David Lyttle — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 21:33:26 +0000

The study was limited to corn as the feed stock which is a poor choice to begin with. There are many other ways to produce ethanol that uses cattails, algae and waste products. All of these sources product many times more ethanol than corn and their use would have an immediate positive impact on the environment. Also the study includes the use of petroleum for harvesting and distribution. A better approach would be to use ethanol and biodiesel in place of petroleum in all phases of the production, then measure the environmental impact.

The real question that needs to be asked is what the resulting price at the pump will be for consumers?

Another question is who provided the funding for this study? What was their motive? Judging from the ads for GM products, it looks as if GM and their good friends in Big Oil may be in the mix. So ask yourself, why would big oil not want Ethanol to have a fair chance? How you spend your money is up to you. Could it be they want to make sure you spend it with them? Think about it and don't let a jaded hit-piece like this article do your thinking for you.

By: Mike Jones

Mike Jones — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 17:09:47 +0000

E85 is one of our answers to energy. A small one. But it has to be made with processes that are more efficient than corn. Since conventional gas can't be made without fossil fuel, we need a liquid backup that's semi-compatible with our current architecture to survive in case petroleum supplies get cut off quick.

However, we should be moving quickly towards an architecture that uses batteries that run on any kind of electricity, which is more versatile in that it can be generated with clean processes.

By: techMan

techMan — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 16:59:36 +0000

Please read the article closely…it was based on dry mill grains. In another words ethanol from corn. This is not the technology that will be used in the future. Liquid fuels will be made from non-food crop cellulosic materials. There is significant research into the development of biobutanol. This is a drop-in replacement fuel for gasoline. Ethanol from corn will likely never be a long-term solution as a replacement for gasoline. Biofuel from non-food cellulosic material has entered the preproduction stage. So, why did researchers study corn ethanol. Why no mention of biobutanol or ethanol from non-food material? How about an agenda? Only asking.

By: chheng

chheng — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 15:49:02 +0000

I do have a 09 Camry Hybrid and get about 37-42 mpg in city driving delivering pizzas and a 11 Ford F150 that gets 15-17 mpg. Can’t find an e85 gas station in my city, nearest one is 100 miles away what’s the point then??? Wish there was a hybrid truck that gets decent milage just for hauling stuff every now and then.

By: Carl

Carl — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 15:41:01 +0000

I have read that Butyl alcohol has a higher energy content,
is less corrosive and a lower affinity for water.
Butyl alcohol is also better for your engine.
Why are we making Ethyl alcohol ?

By: Capt. Concernicus

Capt. Concernicus — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 13:39:07 +0000

E85 has never been the solution to our oil addiction. It certainly doesn't improve the MPG's in any of the cars that have the capability to use it.

I'd like to know how many people who own FFV actually fill up their tanks with E85.

By: TrasKY

TrasKY — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 11:46:44 +0000

This argument makes sense to me, although I would like to know more about the method used for including land use. To measure the environmental impact of corn farming vs. land allowed to lie fallow, or wild pasture of forrest is very different than measuring it against the environmental impact of that land being used to build a neighborhood of McMansions or being used to farm cattle or as a CAFO.