From: James Rogers (jamesr@best.com)
Date: Tue Dec 09 1997 - 16:07:53 MST
At 09:38 PM 12/8/97 -0800, Warrl kyree Tale'sedrin wrote:
[...snip...]
>Probability near zero. We HAVE, today, a passable SUBSTITUTE for
>gasoline that can be made by relatively low-tech, low-energy means,
>strictly from an extremely renewable resource -- agricultural
>wastes. (It's ethanol. Not gasohol -- just ethanol. About 180
>proof. We know how to make solar-powered distillers that deliver
>this purity, out of ordinary construction materials. Your carburetor
>must be adjusted because you'll consume about twice as much of the
>stuff per mile as you do gasoline.) We also have a number of
>non-fossil sources of oils. The hypothesis that we cannot come up
>with satisfactory artificial petrochemicals is untenable.
When I lived in Nebraska, all the gas contained at least 10% ethanol,
distilled locally from agricultural waste. Not only did it make the gas
cheaper, but it burned cleaner and improved the octane rating as well. It
has never been clear to me why ethanol enhanced gas isn't available in many
places, such as California, where there is plenty of agricultural waste and
an obvious need for cleaner fuel. There is very little investment required
to make this change, so it would appear (to me) to be an obvious and
available improvement in the current state of affairs.
-James Rogers
jamesr@best.com
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