Fuel follies

[coffeeman]

I wonder why my local gas stop charges $2.50 a gallon today for e85? Gas fuel is $2.85. When gas was $2.10 e85 was $1.85. If e85 if only 15% gas why doesn't e85 raise at a lower rate per gal?

Cheers

 

[RalphVa]

The reason diesel is more than gasoline is they hit it with an additional tax, to make the truckers pay for road maintenance, about 10 years ago.

Yeah, you're right about ethanol. Makes more sense to push for more diesel and biodiesel.

My cousin, a pilot, was complaining about the high price of av gas. They oughta come up with some 2 cycle (lighter weight) diesel engines for private aircraft.

The extra hydrofinishing to make low sulfur diesel shouldn't be very expensive.

Ralph

 

[patrick_g]

My cousin, a pilot, was complaining about the high price of av gas. They oughta come up with some 2 cycle (lighter weight) diesel engines for private aircraft

Ralph

The Navy has an interest in finding a "heavy fuel" engine (probably recip diesel) to power UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.) Now the UAV mostly run on gasoline so the ships deploying them have to carry gasoline, not a popular item due to safety concerns. Crash a UAV on a carrier and spread a tank full of burning gasoline over some parked F/A-18 or F-14 jets and pretty soon it starts to add up to real bucks not to mention the fire you could have if the gasoline stores got set off.

I saw pix of a French guy flying a twin jet turbine powered airplane that weighed about 500 lb or so with him on board.

Pat

 

[patrick_g]

The corn used to make ethenol is then fed to cows etc. Is there any use for old cellulose after pricessing?

Cheers

According to US Department of Energy studies conducted by the Argonne Laboratories of the University of Chicago, one of the benefits of cellulosic ethanol is that it reduces greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by 85% over reformulated gasoline. By contrast, starch ethanol (e.g., from corn), which most frequently uses natural gas to provide energy for the process, reduces GHG emissions by 18% to 29% over gasoline. Sugar ethanol is cheaper than corn ethanol. Cellulosic ethanol from sugarcane bagasse, reduces greenhouse gas emissions by as much as cellulosic ethanol. In both cases the waste lignin (a constituent of wood fiber) becomes fuel to provide the energy for the process with some excess to provide electricity for the grid.

I'm not sure how much processed for ethanol corn byproducts make it around here for cattle feed. I (and many others around here) feed cattle corn gluten which is a byproduct of corn oil and or corn sweetener production. Many of us switched to a blend of soy hulls and corn gluten to get a more well balanced ration and get the calcium/phosphorous ratio more into balance.

Dairymen are suffering from the increased price of corn. Beef producers feeding gluten see prices continue to spiral up. Who else besides termites wants to eat cellulose? Cellulosic ethanol or butanol for motor fuel doesn't compete with people or animals (that we care about) for a food source. I see it now...in her spare time when not lobbying for animals to be declared sentient beings and enjoy all rights under the constitution, "Crazy" Susan Sarandon will protest the diversion of cellulose away from the poor starving termites. Hmmm She is also violently anti-gun so will the animals get all the constitutional rights EXCEPT the second admendment????

Also see Biofuels: Special DOE Mission Focus

Pat

 

[KICK]

I couldn't begin to answer the political side of this debate but one reason Diesel/home heating fuel is cheaper in summer is production amounts vary.

late fall refiners begine producing more heating fuel and diesel, summer use is more geared towards agasoline.

 

[dholly]

Pat- similar to acid etching metal tanks before coating, F/G tanks are sloshed with MEK to remove oils and soften the F/G to promote adhesion. Diesel engine aircraft powered by twin Thielert turbo-diesels were introduced to Europe several years ago and FAA certified in the U.S. two years ago. The tiny twin engine aircraft you mentioned is called a Cri-Cri. There are several neat Cri-Cri videos on youtube including one with twin turbines, the world's smallest twin jet! I've been adrift in a boat many times, some scary, but nowhere near the pucker factor as a dead stick landing in a bean field I assure you.