Why is everyone so gung ho over E85?

Question

Don’t get me wrong, we need a renewable fuel source… badly. But, E85 Ethanol currently consumes roughly 3 gallons of gasoline for every 4 gallons produces and you get about 25% fewer miles per gallon.

So, why the big push?

Answer 1

Everyone follows the crowd without a thought of there own . Ive mentioned better alternatives and you get one person usually a top contributor saying its not good and the entire crowd thinks it isn't . Its called the monkey effect ..

There's a new energy source coming out the first part of next year that's going to amaze everyone anyway so let the monkeys think what they need to think

Answer 2

i agree that it seems fishty. maybe it is being pushed due to lobby from people who have interest in the agriculture industry. this is just speculation, i have no evidence.

Answer 3

I totally agree with Michael C, and would just add that every political hack (both Dems. and Reps.) that support E85 are doing so in hopes to secure the farmer vote.  

If Iowa wasn't the first state to vote in the Presidential Primaries and every state voted on the same day, would we really have this ethonal issue???

Answer 4

Not even that.  E85 consumes massive amounts of water in order to grow the corn to make the ethanol.  Its another liberal way to make it look like they are helping the environment when there are actually other factors involved that do just the opposite that nobody sees.

Another factor that E85 gets lower gas mileage is because the engines that can run on E85 have to be able to run on standard gasoline (E15) so they can't take advantage of the higher compression that an E85 engine can produce, giving better gas mileage.

Answer 5

Fashion.  Ignorant people get approval from other ignorant people for spouting whatever current claptrap is popular.

Answer 6

You're right, ethanol is a bad idea.  But liberals have nothing to do with it. The agriculture lobby came up with this.  Look what it's done to the price of corn.  Which is already subsidized to the hilt.

Really. They're building new coal plants in the midwest to make the power needed to distill the ethanol. Environmentalists don't want ethanol!  Bad idea.

The liberals want to cut the subsidies for corn and other trash foods, and subsidize more healthy types of food.

http://www.sustainabletable.org/features...

The big push is because - well, your numbers aren't quite right.  It doesn't actually take any gasoline to grow corn, it takes 3 gallons "worth" (gasoline-equivalent) of petroleum to grow 4 gallons gasoline-equivalent of ethanol (which as you say is more like 5 actual gallons.)

The fuel actually used is mostly coal.  AMERICAN coal.  And THAT's what it's all about.  Cutting America's dependence on foreign oil, and making gigabucks for Big Agriculture.  Ethanol is a lousy fuel.  It's low density, bad for engines, can't pipeline it, etc.

(biodiesel has none of those problems, and it's MUCH more efficient to make.  It takes like 0.2 gallons' worth of petroleum to make 1 gallon's worth of biodiesel, which really is 1 gallon :)

Answer 7

because bush is a oil man, where dose all that oil needed to produce the ethanol come from? hydrogen  is the fuel of the future, ethanol i just a stepping stone.

Answer 8

Lousy News media hypes all kinda c**p in 1 minute blurbs and never bothers with the small print. This leaves people wondering why it's not done yet. Consequently blaming the government and "big oil" because nobody told em the realism and practicality of all these "Alternative Energy" sources.

Answer 9

I'm not, so by definition, everyone is not.

Answer 10

Al Gore owns a big stake in ADM and PEIX.  He needs the pps to increase so he can buy a better house and some 22" bling bling spinners for his 2008 Cadillac Escalade.

Man-bear-pig lives!  I'm totally cereal!!!

http://www.cryptomundo.com/wp-content/Me...

Answer 11

The ethanol push in congress was a huge win by the farmer's lobby. Simple as that. I'm still trying to figure out how it caught on so heavily with the public.