Quote:
Originally Posted by KY_Canyon
Frequent Questions | Green Vehicle Guide | US EPA
Why is the fuel economy for a flex-fuel vehicle lower when using E85 than when using gasoline?
Ethanol has a lower energy content than gasoline as measured in British Thermal Units per gallon, so you travel fewer miles per gallon when using a fuel that contains ethanol. Compared to gasoline, E85 typically gets about 25-30 percent fewer miles per gallon in ethanol flexible fuel vehicles.
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BTU isn't 100% of Fuel economy. It is a large factor but we are talking about two different fuels in an internal combustion engine, not boiling water. The difference between the two fuels is pretty large as far as efficiency goes. The latent heat of evaporation of Ethanol(in higher blends) is enough for a 2% improvement in efficiency alone!
Basically, if you are getting even near the same Energy efficiency on Ethanol as Gasoline, you are not running as efficiently as you could. Plenty of newer FFVs get 15% less MPG, which for nerds like me is a huge 20% increase in energy efficiency!
Maybe in the past BTU was the only difference between the two's MPG but it isn't necessarily true anymore.
Quote:
Originally Posted by payne171
Frank, I am not sure if you were referring to me directly with "wanna bet," but I made no reference to assuming you would eat the grain that came from "field corn." what I do know is that it has caused the cost of livestock to go up. I eat meat. Even if I stopped, the switch to plant alternatives would cause those prices to go up. Even if we choose to ignore those basic economic principles, that field could be producing edible food if the price of farm products weren't being ARTIFICIALLY driven up by a few upon the majority of the populace that are either against it or don't care.
And Shovel, a free market dictates those uses for corn, so yes, I am in favor of it. If a free market dictated this use, I would favor it as well. Hell, if it even had popular support, I would be fine with it. As I said above, though, most Americans are either indifferent or see it as a waste, yet we get it pushed upon us by a vocal minority and the elected officials that need their votes.
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If the Food vs Fuel argument was about the effect of Corn prices on livestock production costs, the argument wouldn't have near the support it does. Meat and cheese are largely luxury items. And even though they've gone up(I think 25% Locally), the cost is still minimal compared to what the average person spends on Gasoline every month. The folly of the Food vs Fuel argument is that they believe Corn prices significantly affect the price of food made from Sweet Corn. It doesn't. A tripling of the Corn price is pennies at the local market.
Energy prices are a much bigger factor than feed prices on livestock and likewise food prices. I believe the doubling of the cost of Diesel was proven to play a much bigger role than Corn prices tripling! Plus the price of Gasoline affects people directly and Ethanol has at least softened the price. Although I believe the mandate isn't doing any favors for the E85 market by jacking up the price and demand for Ethanol and tying it to the price of Gasoline. But that's a different story. Ethanol supporters and Corn Growers have been debating that for years.
In an economy dominated by Gasoline, every alternative fuel/energy supporter is in the minority. So it's pretty ironic that you would say that. As that is the only way things are going to change.