"Wayne B" wrote in message
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On Sat, 27 Apr 2013 16:45:40 -0400, "Eisboch" wrote:

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I did, and it is true if you add in all of the agricultural energy
such as fertilizer production, etc.

It was true, not anymore.

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Well, halleluiah and praise be to the corn gods. Cheap perpetual
energy. Oh, and by the way, the science community better get busy
re-writing the laws of physics.

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It's not truly a perpetual motion system because the corn crop
benefits from a lot of free solar energy. The question is whether or
not the crop consumes more fossil fuel in its production than it
yields as a motor fuel. Apparently recent gains in crop yield and
ethanol production efficiency have tipped the balance so that ethanol
is now yielding slightly more energy than it uses. It's still a lousy
fuel however, and thanks to the farm lobby it will be very difficult
to get rid of it.

You can still buy non-ethanol fuel at some marinas and at all general
aviation airports. The av-gas has lead in it however so it will ruin
the catalytic converter in a vehicle.

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I agree with the "free" solar energy contribution but I still
subscribe to ethanol being a net negative in terms of the real costs
of growing, harvesting, producing and transporting it to mixing
stations. It cannot be pipelined as in the case of gasoline and has
to be transported by tank truck or rail.
I've tried to confirm yea or nay but it seems that the articles I've
found are about equally divided on the subject, depending on who wrote
it.

It seems the leaded AVGAS debate is still on going but it appears that
it too will eventually be replaced with a no-lead alternative. When
I was into classic cars I got a fill-up for the 67 GTO I had at the
airport where I took flying lessons. I knew the guy that ran the
fueling station and he let me drive out to the pump and get a quick
tank full. To be honest, I never really noticed any difference in
performance, even though the AVGAS was 100 octane (100LL). Probably
would have if I had adjusted the timing, but I never bothered.