From: Michael Lorrey (retroman@together.net)
Date: Wed Dec 10 1997 - 06:48:42 MST
James Rogers wrote:
>
> 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.
>
Because, with the highest energy and gas prices in the country,
Californians probably don't want another 5 cents added on per gallon. A
few years ago when the EPA mandated that the Seattle area use ethanol
inhanced gas (sold as "oxygenated") to reduce smog, prices went up by
5-10 cents, and people howled. They didn't stop driving though...
-- TANSTAAFL!!! Michael Lorrey ------------------------------------------------------------ mailto:retroman@together.net Inventor of the Lorrey Drive MikeySoft: Graphic Design/Animation/Publishing/Engineering ------------------------------------------------------------ How many fnords did you see before breakfast today?
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