Bo Dillingham
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2001
- Messages
- 121
- Location
- Cortland, NY, 13045, USA
- Corvette
- 1965 crimson pearl (2002 cadillac?)
Attached is a copy of a letter that I e-mailed to every news station in Minneapolis, with no results. Perhaps someone inour group could enlighten me (and the rest of us) regarding this subject.
I did a search in CAC for E85 topics and found two; One was mine from a way back, and the other was in an article about building a race car and the sentance regarded having E85 fule available... "Whatever that is...".
This is the kind of stuff we should know about. If we properly retrofit an older car, I believe we could run high compression ratios as an everyday thing.
By the way, I already know the answers to SOME of the questions here, but not all...
ALTERNATIVE FUEL, E85
Wednesday, April 10, 2002
To whom it may concern,
Do you know what E85 is? If you do, you are among the few who are even aware of this product, and it is supposed to represent one of our promising hopes for oil independence.
E85 is 85% alcohol and 15% gasoline, and it is available in gas stations all over the country, including Minnesota. Major automobile manufacturers have been building cars and trucks that will run on this fuel for years. I believe the alcohol is made primarily from corn, a renewable resource.
Now that news stations are posting the prices of gasoline on a daily basis, I wonder if your audience wouldn't be interested in the prices and some facts regarding E85. If you introduced your viewers to a fact, an/or a pro or a con regarding E85 each day along with the price, I bet that you would get a significant response and perhaps a ratings bump.
Here are a few things about E85 that would attract my attention when watching the news;
1) Since E85 and gasoline have different mileage ratings as well as different prices, what would the comparison be for miles per dollar?
2) Can an FFV (Flexible Fuel Vehicle) run on either E85 or gasoline from one day to the next, or does it have to be set up for one or the other only?
3) E85 acts like a VERY HIGH octane gasoline, so a more powerful engine set up could be used (Like a "souped up" version of your present engine, with a higher compression ratio). If E85 became very popular, would it allow for production of smaller engines with the same power due to the higher octane rating?
4) What kinds of cars and trucks are made at this time to use E85? What about the next few years?
5) What are the real truths about the pollution comparisons? For instance, corn requires fuel to plant, harvest, and distill it, and it may need chemical fertilizers. How does this compare to the production of Gasoline?
6) When I read a statistic from the corn people, they say that we are only getting about 10% of our oil from the Mid-East, and E85 could get us our independence. The oil people say it is 25%, and that E85 won't have much impact. Who's right? Or, what are the correct numbers?
7) Is there any record on the long term effects of E85 on the life of a vehicle?
8) I believe that Ethanol in various forms has been used successfully for many years in other countries, like South America. Is this true? Can we learn anything from them?
9) I think that sugar cane can also be used for the alcohol source. If that is true, perhaps one could also use sugar beets? or other such vegetation?
At any rate, I sincerely hope that you give this matter some consideration. I also hope that you take this to the airwaves and it increases your market share. I imagine that you would get a lot of input from your audience as to the pro's and con's, and proper or improper information. I'll watch for it.
Thank you for your time and interest,
Bo Dillingham
I did a search in CAC for E85 topics and found two; One was mine from a way back, and the other was in an article about building a race car and the sentance regarded having E85 fule available... "Whatever that is...".
This is the kind of stuff we should know about. If we properly retrofit an older car, I believe we could run high compression ratios as an everyday thing.
By the way, I already know the answers to SOME of the questions here, but not all...
ALTERNATIVE FUEL, E85
Wednesday, April 10, 2002
To whom it may concern,
Do you know what E85 is? If you do, you are among the few who are even aware of this product, and it is supposed to represent one of our promising hopes for oil independence.
E85 is 85% alcohol and 15% gasoline, and it is available in gas stations all over the country, including Minnesota. Major automobile manufacturers have been building cars and trucks that will run on this fuel for years. I believe the alcohol is made primarily from corn, a renewable resource.
Now that news stations are posting the prices of gasoline on a daily basis, I wonder if your audience wouldn't be interested in the prices and some facts regarding E85. If you introduced your viewers to a fact, an/or a pro or a con regarding E85 each day along with the price, I bet that you would get a significant response and perhaps a ratings bump.
Here are a few things about E85 that would attract my attention when watching the news;
1) Since E85 and gasoline have different mileage ratings as well as different prices, what would the comparison be for miles per dollar?
2) Can an FFV (Flexible Fuel Vehicle) run on either E85 or gasoline from one day to the next, or does it have to be set up for one or the other only?
3) E85 acts like a VERY HIGH octane gasoline, so a more powerful engine set up could be used (Like a "souped up" version of your present engine, with a higher compression ratio). If E85 became very popular, would it allow for production of smaller engines with the same power due to the higher octane rating?
4) What kinds of cars and trucks are made at this time to use E85? What about the next few years?
5) What are the real truths about the pollution comparisons? For instance, corn requires fuel to plant, harvest, and distill it, and it may need chemical fertilizers. How does this compare to the production of Gasoline?
6) When I read a statistic from the corn people, they say that we are only getting about 10% of our oil from the Mid-East, and E85 could get us our independence. The oil people say it is 25%, and that E85 won't have much impact. Who's right? Or, what are the correct numbers?
7) Is there any record on the long term effects of E85 on the life of a vehicle?
8) I believe that Ethanol in various forms has been used successfully for many years in other countries, like South America. Is this true? Can we learn anything from them?
9) I think that sugar cane can also be used for the alcohol source. If that is true, perhaps one could also use sugar beets? or other such vegetation?
At any rate, I sincerely hope that you give this matter some consideration. I also hope that you take this to the airwaves and it increases your market share. I imagine that you would get a lot of input from your audience as to the pro's and con's, and proper or improper information. I'll watch for it.
Thank you for your time and interest,
Bo Dillingham