Comments on: E85 Biofuel Myth or Magic? You Decide

By: Tommy

Tommy — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 13:11:05 +0000

Nice blog with nice idea!

By: Bubble Tea

Bubble Tea — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 10:57:57 +0000

Good comparison. helped me a lot to make decision whether to go for it.

By: Lamar Rogers

Lamar Rogers — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 19:43:28 +0000

Check out this video. It addresses most of the CONS. I just wish this was a publicly traded company. I would by stock in Coskata.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1184417269/bclid979465104/bctid1785277192

By: Ohio Custody Lawyer

Ohio Custody Lawyer — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 19:45:22 +0000

Yeah, ethanol might be a lot of hype, but still it is great that we are at least attempting to find solutions. SO far nobody has come up with anything economically viable. BUT, we have to keep stretching our inventiveness and encouraging experimentation. Our future depends on it.

By: links for 2008-05-22

links for 2008-05-22 — Thu, 22 May 2008 01:34:10 +0000

[...] E85 Biofuel Myth or Magic? You Decide - the answer is not determined (tags: info,environment) [...]

By: GreenEnergyTV

GreenEnergyTV — Thu, 15 May 2008 11:40:02 +0000

Yes that correct. I think that the pros in this instance definitely out way the cons. Now Im not saying that this is the best and only option, but if there is an option to reduce our oil dependancy and pollution by 85% then why not. If there could ever be a better time to stop these dependancies I would like to know when?

By: Keith

Keith — Wed, 14 May 2008 15:02:51 +0000

As with any technology you need to balance the pros and cons. You can make a compelling argument on either side. One of the biggest limiting factors I see on widespread adoption is our fueling infrastructure. Can we expect all gas stations across the country to start supplying E85 at their pumps? This would be very expensive for them.

On the flip side I think biofuel combined with hybrid technology could potentially be a great way to rid the USA’s dependence on foreign oil. If I remember right the Chevy Volt that will be coming out in 2010 is a plug-in hybrid that can use E85.

By: GreenEnergyTV

GreenEnergyTV — Wed, 14 May 2008 12:20:53 +0000

I agree that the answer is still undetermined. However I also believe that this is a huge step in the right direction. If E85 can efficiently power cars with 85 percent less gasoline they I’d say we’ve come pretty far. As for the cost being so high, that would decrease dramatically and the demand increase exploded.

By: Abi Bakar

Abi Bakar — Wed, 14 May 2008 10:18:28 +0000

Yes agreed, the correct answer is still undetermined

By: Adam

Adam — Tue, 13 May 2008 07:12:02 +0000

E85 won’t work. It’s a band-aid for a much larger problem. On top of that E85 is not available anywhere and where you can find it, it’s almost the same price at gas.

So why bother? People are not going to seek it out unless there’s a savings.

By: Tim

Tim — Sat, 10 May 2008 14:34:59 +0000

Food prices are already going through the roof. What everyone fails to see is that in poorer countries this will cause starvation. Here we just pay a little more and grumble. Bio fuels will destroy lives in poor countries by using our food growing resources for fuel instead.

By: rafting in chile

rafting in chile — Thu, 08 May 2008 16:22:33 +0000

it takes more fuel to make Ethanol than you would be saving.
It’s like paying $2 for $1.

By: Ron Pitman

Ron Pitman — Mon, 05 May 2008 15:58:13 +0000

That does seem like a huge loop hole. What is to stop these automakers from just making all of their vehicles compatible with E85? This would completely undermine the CAFE standard…

By: fthefarmer

fthefarmer — Sun, 04 May 2008 02:23:16 +0000

Liked your story about the ills of Ethanol, it is indeed releiving to see the press finally getting it that Ethanol is nothing but a lobbyists dream and a taxpayer nightmare but there is another player hoping that ethanol survival the big three. GM ’s sudden stewardship of the environment is simply a way to continue to make gas guzzlers thanks to E85 an extremely inefficient fuel. The CAFE standards call for all car companies to acheive an average MPG for all vehicles. I believe the most recent number is 33 MPG. Well if you make the biggest money off of 10 miles per gallon SUV’s you would hate to say good bye to them wouldn’t you?
The CAFE standards has a loophole, that being that an E85 vehicle operating on E85 miles per gallon are ONLY figured against the actual amount of gasoline in the blend (15%) if you divide 100% fuel by 15% gasoline you get the multipler to the mpg (666) therefore a gas guzzling 10 MPG SUV is given credit for 66.6 MPG. If you sell one SUV like this you can have 3 vehicles only acheiving 24 MPG and this gas guzzling SUV and you average more than 34 MPG overall.
GM is not the only one taking advantage of this free ride Ford and Chrysler are too. The big three are heading down the toilet and this is just their hands clinging to the rim.