Beyond corn fields we would need to open up “marginal land” for grass ethanol that currently is used for wildlife protection, hunting activities, water supplies, flood control, ect….

Also, I wonder if anyone has ever thought of the energy cycle of corn ethanol. If petroleum prices do increase, there will be higher prices in the energy chain (inputs, outputs, & through puts). Ethanol is highly reliant on cheap petro supplies.

The Achilles heel of the industry is corn ethanol. Corn ethanol represents a major windfall for agro businesses but lacks any real advancement in ethanol technology. Moving to things like algae will unlikely happen as politicians continue to prop up the current dead end types of production and by the time the industry moves past corn hopefully most of use will move past ICE engines.

I read somewhere that if all of the US agricultural land was used for ethanol production from corn it would be enough to fuel 15% of the cars. So it will NEVER be an alternative.

just in case you want a link to a racing series that is already doing its part for green racing.

just about everywhere i buy fuel across the country the gas has 10% ethanol already in it! it is not a matter of using tony stewart as a marketing tool. it is nascar coming to realize that the new car design is a loser and needing to “relate” to the fans in real life. they never use pump gas in the first place. it is racing fuel. so now they use racing fuel with 15% ethanol. maybe they should try racing on pump gas instead to make this more meaningful.

the american lemans series has had a green challenge within its series for several years. they have manufacturer support from chevrolet, ford,bmw, ferrari, and porsche. for nascar to even come forward to say hey look at us now is just ridiculous.

The big problem will be both the loss of power and also the increase in the amount of water found naturally in E15. Will they use an additive to enhance to counter these efforts.

Bell Performance is working on both of these issues and trying to find a balance for this new fuel source.

Thanks for the post!
Max Stewart
Bell Performance