"Capt. Mooron" wrote in message

"Maxprop" wrote in message

Why is ethanol completely ignored? We can grow corn til the cows come
home (provided they don't take a shortcut through the cornfield). It's
the most practical renewable resource today, and would benefit one of the
most beleagured segments of society: farmers. Our local ethanol plant
can produce a gallon of ethanol for less than 25 cents. Auto engines can
be made to run on pure or slightly modified ethanol for less cost than to
convert them to run on methane, and for a tiny fraction of the cost of
hydrogen fuel cell technology.

We sell ethanol at the pumps here in Canada..... it's not that cheap!

1. What percent of your petrol is ethanol? It is often used to raise
octane ratings, and may increase the cost of a gallon of petrol, but pure
ethanol is ridiculously cheap.
2. Might it just be possible that your ethanol-spiked gasoline is being
artificially priced up by big oil in order to discourage its use?
3. A few years back the price of medical or research-grade ethanol took a
big jump in price. I inquired as to the reason, and the answer I was given
by Carolina Biological was that their supplier had been acquired by British
Petroleum. Beginning to see a pattern here? (They were searching for a new
supplier.)
4. The owner's manuals of quite a few automobiles use to have warnings
against using ethanol in the fuel systems. Reasons cited were possible
corrosion issues, and fuel handling materials (hoses, etc.) which are not
impervious to alcohol. Class-action litigation was filed by some ethanol
producers when, after some research, they discovered that such excuses were
invalid--no corrosion was obtained after exposure to either gas/ethanol
mixtures or to pure ethanol for long periods of time. And the hoses did not
degrade with ethanol exposure either. What was discovered during the
preliminary hearings was that a couple of oil companies paid some auto
manufacturers to include those warnings. As the result of a settlement the
warnings were removed, ostensibly under the excuse that the problems had
been corrected by the auto makers.

Max