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Another Ethanol surpise

R_W_B

Senior Member
Well some of you more knowlegable ones probably already knew this. I'll just tell ya what happened and what I learned today, beings I was ignorant prior.

Today I went to remove the broken fuel line from my chain saw (it's just a plastic line inside the tank) and it disintegrated into pieces. Biggest mess I ever saw. I had to pour gas into the tank, swish it around, and turn the saw sideways to flush the gas and the plastic bits out of the tank. Then let it dry and blow it out with the compressor. I had plastic bits up inside the pump bulb line so bad the pump bulb would not return from a push.

So went to my local Lawnmower repair shop and told them I needed a Walbro carb rebuild kit and some new fuel line. I asked them did they sell any fuel line that would not rot in the tank. They say no but they could sell me premixed 'ethanol-free' gas that would not deteriorate the plastic lines.

I said huh ? Yep our good old ethanol that we are forced to buy at most pumps, deteriorates plastic fuel lines over time. The more I hear about ethanol I just don't get it. It's like global warming, a scientific theory gone wild.

Here are some interesting facts I got off the net today.

1.Creating plant-based biofuels requires too much farmland to be practical or sustainable—land that would be better used to grow food. Plus it runs the cost of food up comparatively.

2.Producing ethanol and other biofuels takes more energy than the fuel can generate.

In a 2005 study, Cornell University researcher David Pimental factored in the energy needed to grow crops and convert them to biofuels and concluded that producing ethanol from corn required 29 percent more energy than ethanol is capable of generating. Pimental found similar problems with making biodiesel from soybeans.

“There is just no energy benefit to using plant biomass for liquid fuel,” Pimentel says.

Now here's the part your gonna love. How much you reckon all of this seemingly futile effort to keep us from drilling where environmentalist won't let us is costing us. You ain't JUST paying for it at the pump. Nope our good old tax dollars are paying for it before we ever even get to the pump.

Corn ethanol subsidies totaled $7.0 billion in 2006 for 4.9 billion gallons of ethanol. Even with high gas prices in 2006, producing a gallon of ethanol cost 38¢ more than making gasoline with the same energy.

Where did those subsidies come from:
1. 51¢ per gallon federal blenders credit for $2.5 billion = your tax dollars.
2. $0.9 billion in corn subsidies for ethanol corn = your tax dollars.
3. $3.6 billion extra paid at the pump.

Life on planet earth, it almost seems like the whole planet is flying with blinders on. Unfortunately I fear the powers that be, see all to clearly and feed us the mushroom medium.
 
Sorry about the chain saw. You should see what the efuel does to the rubber parts inside a carb. If I can find it I will post just how much fuel milage we lose using efuel. And now the brains in Wash. want to up the % from 10 to 15. Go figure.
 
I don't want to pop your bubble but Brazil has converted all their cars and trucks to Ethanol years ago. They do not have any problems with it plus ethanol burns very clean. We will simply have to let the manufacturers convert their powered products to accept Ethanol. In the mean time we will have to figure it out. Could you chain saw use a copper pipe in place of the plastic one?
 
Ethanol from sugar cane. Whole different animal. Their cars run on 100% E, no blended gasohol junk.
Higher compression in engines that are made to run on 100% SUGAR JUICE.
We don't have that here. Why? Oil Companies.
wilks3
:USA
 
Politicians,oil companies and $$$$$ a handbook for greed...

Is this greed? 'looks like mandated redistribution to me!:(

"Where did those subsidies come from:
1. 51¢ per gallon federal blenders credit for $2.5 billion = your tax dollars.
2. $0.9 billion in corn subsidies for ethanol corn = your tax dollars.
3. $3.6 billion extra paid at the pump"


Al

:USA
:CONNECTICUT
 
I don't want to pop your bubble but Brazil has converted all their cars and trucks to Ethanol years ago. They do not have any problems with it plus ethanol burns very clean. We will simply have to let the manufacturers convert their powered products to accept Ethanol. In the mean time we will have to figure it out. Could you chain saw use a copper pipe in place of the plastic one?

Thanks for posting, it won't pop my bubble. I'm all for ANYTHING that WORKS and works in the most economical way possible. Brazil uses the more expensive sugar cane ethanol, where as we use mostly the cheaper grain ethanol.

BUT I don't want to get off thread persey. What I'm saying is that CURRENTLY, I don't see where ethanol is saving on fuel prices when you factor in the tax dollar subsidies that we are paying farmers to grow the stuff, which then cuts back on the number of framers growing grain for food resulting in higher food prices (due to supply and demand).

Then further ethanol gets less mileage than pure gas so the oil companies are selling more fuel (and shifting the mileage burden onto the car companies).

And then finally the energy it takes to even produce the ethanol is not cost effective.

Now IF it ACTUALLY lowered fuel prices that would lower food prices since admittedly MUCH of food's increased price is due to shipping costs (oil).

I mean it all sounded good on paper going in but I don't really see where it's doing anything except making me order alcohol resistant fuel lines on the internet from an aircraft company. No bubble busted here, just don't get what the deal is.
 
All this comes from the huge corn states. This is all a scam on the American people. Just look at the study you brought up. Bottom line, it costs more to make than it gives back. Why in world would you use it??? Politics= MONEY The only people making money are ADM and the ethanol plants, who are all subsidized with yours & mine tax dollars.
Hopefully this will all stop in Dec, Congress "almost" ended it last Dec, but at the last minute, let it go 1 more year. Why??? Huge money to polititians "campaign funds".
And The Beat Goes On...
wilks3
:USA
 
Perhaps you guys dont relize that the government pays people not to grow on their farmland in order to not have an abundance of foods which in turn would lower prices and put farmers in the poorhouse. they are realy just tring to help farmers out
 
I was told by a motorcycle technition that ethanol is what caused the lining of my fuel tank to start flaking. I have begun to use ethanol stabilizer each time I fuel up and I hope that will stop the new fuel liner that I am currently having installed to not have this problem.
 
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