Chu: all American cars should be E85 capable
In early May, the U.S. DOE announced a $786.5 million "third-generation" biofuel program. Yesterday, ex-biofuel researcher Stephen Chu, the Energy Secretary, said that all cars made in America should be able to burn ethanol (E85). Earlier this month, Chu said electric vehicles were "inevitable."Chu made the E85 statement deep in corn ethanol country - in Des Moines, Iowa - yesterday, even though he has previously said that, "corn is not the right crop for biofuels." Chu's promotion of E85 capability seems to be driven by the low cost of making a standard ICE vehicle able to burn the biofuel. Chu said that:
I've been told it costs about $100 in gaskets and fuel lines to turn a car so that it can go all the way to E85. But a new car, it would only cost $100 out of $15,000. Wouldn't it be nice to put in those fuel lines and gaskets so that we can use any ratio we wanted?
While Chu made clear that the Obama administration is not ready to mandate any flex-fuel capability at this time, that "any ratio" line surely caught the attention of those pushing for an increase in the nation ethanol blend to 15 percent. For more on the E15 debate, click here.
Gallery: Ford E85 Escape Hybrids
[Source: Des Moines Register]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
robert.moffitt@alamn.org 11:48AM (6/23/2009)
Sounds like a good way to get past the "chicken or the egg" issue with E85 infrastructure.
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jeffzekas 3:53PM (6/23/2009)
The only way that America will become energy independent, if if the government MANDATES new fuels. Petrol has been subsidized (with road taxes and tax breaks for Big Oil) for over 100 years. It is now time for the US to break its addiction to oil, a fuel which directly pays for terrorism (much as drug money also pays for terrorism). This means: a "Manhattan Project" for IMMEDIATELY building an alcohol and electric fueling infrastructur, as well as giving loans to alternate fuel car makers. To do any less, would be to surrender to the jihad.
paulwesterberg 3:29PM (6/23/2009)
Ethanol contains 30% less energy(BTUs) than gas so mileage suffers.
The highest mileage a flex fuel car(sold in the usa) gets a paltry 16 city 23 hwy when running on E85, much lower than the 22 city 32 hwy on gasoline. Most new vehicles that burn E85 are trucks so the cafe average is probably closer to 13mpg, which would be worse if running on E100.
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/byfueltype.htm
plants are only about 6% efficient(max) at converting sunlight into sugars & cellulose. Modern solar panels are around 20% efficient(very expensive space panels are at 40%).
ethanol must be distributed by truck or rail(there are no pipelines yet).
electricity transmission loss is only around 3% and will improve as the grid is upgraded.
How you use the energy matters also. Internal combustion engines waste most of the energy as heat(75-80%) and use only 20-25% of the energy to move the car. Electric batteries and motors are around 85% efficient.
Electricity wins.
Now if we can just get some affordable batteries and solar panels...
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AquariumsW Olympia 7:03PM (7/16/2009)
Paul, electricity is not a clear winner. Ethanol's real purpose will be as an octane booster (E85 is 105 octane) to increase ICE efficiency. While current US "Flex-fuel" vehicles do not take advantage of that, SAAB has an engine designd to produce more HP and torque with higher ethanol blends. Lets get the USA in the lead on this!
Joe Bonaparte 4:20PM (6/23/2009)
ugg, ethanol? blech, at least talk about biobutanol.
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Chris M 7:04PM (6/23/2009)
He said it the wrong way. The statement should have been "all new gasoline engine vehicles should be made to run on alcohol based fuels as well". After all, E85 is worse than useless for diesels, or EVs, or for that matter, H2FC cars.
But instead of subsidizing ethanol production, perhaps they should make the alcohol portion of E85 (and biodiesel) tax exempt, and tax only the petroleum based portion of those fuels.
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Wanted 7:24PM (6/23/2009)
ethanol is driving up the cost of my popcorn. i'm furious about the government's involvement in this. people EAT corn, why should we put it in our cars when there are other inedible and more efficient methods more worthy of our attention? I can't trust the government to make the right calls any more, because everything leads to subsidies and bailouts. progress, my keister.
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lne937s 9:50AM (6/24/2009)
I agree that all car should be capable for 2 reasons:
1- If some breakthrough is made to make ethanol/methanol cheaply from waste without impacting food, it would be nice to have cars capable of using it.
2- A recent study in Richmond, Virginia found that fuel being sold as regular gasoline tended to have more ethanol blended in it that allowable by law- one station had over 50% ethanol in regular gasoline. If ethanol remains cheaper per gallon than gasoline, you can figure people will error on the side of profit. The Government should enforce better, but I would want my car E85 capable (even though I would rarely if ever use it) from the simple standpoint that I don't want my car to be ruined by unscrupulous gas stations.
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Seth 11:37AM (6/24/2009)
"Any blend of the fuel" It's about time someone in the govt. said this.
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Confusatron 12:26PM (6/24/2009)
Sadly E85 takes more than a couple of gaskets. It also generally requires different ECU maps and many times changes to the ignition system (coils & plugs). Another reason politicians shouldn't make cars...
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Richard S. 12:36PM (10/14/2009)
In Brazil most cars are coming out of the factories (including from GM and Ford) as flex-fuel, so they can run in any kind of ratio, from E100 (100% ethanol), to pure gasoline (although in Brazil the gasoline has a nice ethanol content as well). You can fuel your flex-fuel car with half a tank of E100 than drive and fill it with gasoline. It does not matter the blend, the computer of the engine through the sensors will detect and adjust all engine operations to run in optimal condition at various blends.
So the technology is already there and they already belong to GM and Ford (in Brazil as well as VW and FIAT in Brazil).\
Now having new Chevys and Fords in the U.S. sold with flex-fuel engines would be great. Let the drivers fuel with whatever is available at the best price.
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