In the pantheon of motor fuels, gasoline is actually one of the worst in almost every way.

Fortunately for gasoline makers, they manage to keep arguments going. So long as everyone is distracted by solar vs wind vs hydrogen vs biofuel vs psychic energy of happy thoughts, the traditional bonds of fossil fuels and politics are not disturbed.

Therefore, it is imperative the Peepul’s quasi-religious beliefs in causes of CO2, deforestation and starvation are never shaken.

Insofar as “bridge” fuels, leaded gasoline was originally envisioned as a bridge fuel to higher compression, higher efficiency piston engines, which would eventually, logically, default to alcohol fuel. Look up Charles Kettering, Delco, tetraethyl lead, and DuPont as controlling interest in GM at the time of leaded gasoline development.

The future? Current trends will have water tables destroyed by fracking and steam extraction of tar sands, to get the last drops of oil from the earth, causing starvation and deforestation as fresh water and arable land disappear.

A future without petroleum would lean heavily on coal, either directly burned for electricity or as a synfuel feedstock. Either way, coal has pollution and political issues as great as those of oil. Despite what you have heard of ‘clean coal’, it is not.

A future with neither oil nor coal, dare we dream of such a thing, might use a lot of methane, obtained from natural biological breakdown [landfill gas, sewage gas], as well as reformation of methane and CO2 into methanol, and conversion of other waste products into ethanol.

Small, self-contained fuel cells could be fueled with either methanol, ethanol, or methane for use in transportation, portable electrical generation [there are already methanol fuel cells on the market for operating laptops, etc.] or home use.

Envision future homes with no electrical wires from coal-burning power plants, and their own fuel pumps for vehicles. Solar energy during peak times could be stored in the form of methanol, ethanol, methane produced from human waste, animal waste, trash, leaves, grass clippings, etc. Some of this is possible now, some will be in a short time.

However, as stated before, money buys marketing, which buys people’s minds, which buys political power and the paradigm that anything but fossil fuels are pipe dreams.

In this day, while we and the internet are both still relatively free, it is imperative that we do our own research into real facts, not marketing, not quasi-religious political dogma.

If a couple hot-rodding tinkerers with no more than an associates degree between them can come up with engines that produce better mileage and power than OEM engines, on fuel they made themselves, why is everyone waiting for the lawyers who run government and the ginormous businesses that run the media to save us?

Postscript–Kudos to Lonnie B for saying most of this with less rancor.

http://www.permaculture.com/

http://www.permaculture.com/

http://www.permaculture.com/

However, crops other than corn should be exploited. Among them are sugar cane, sugar beets and best of all, Jerusalem artichokes. Thes crops produce much more ethanol per bushel (or acre) than corn.

Infrastructure is currently a problem. Farmers who have tooled up to raise and harvest corn will need to adjust to these alternative crops. THAT is where the government money should go, not corn.

Blender pumps are great, if your engine is set up to run the blend you select. The engine’s compression ratio is what determines the highest efficiency, not ignition timing (which is what the inefficient FlexFuel vehicles rely on). Converting to exclusive ethanol useage is simpler and cheaper than CNG or hydrogen.

CNG actually DOES produce more low end engine torque than gasoline, which is why it makes a good fuel for local delivery fleets that have access to fill stations. Distribution and range make it less than attractive for long haulers, though.

The important thing is to not sit back (like our oh-so-efficient government) and argue endlessly about it, or wait for someone else to solve the problem for us. Don’t rely on the oil companies to solve your fuel issues, either. It isn’t in their best interests to do so, as long as they can pump their revenues out of the ground.

This is a golden opportunity for America to show the world our innovative genius….or our pitiful lack of it.

However, crops other than corn should be exploited. Among them are sugar cane, sugar beets and best of all, Jerusalem artichokes. Thes crops produce much more ethanol per bushel (or acre) than corn.

Infrastructure is currently a problem. Farmers who have tooled up to raise and harvest corn will need to adjust to these alternative crops. THAT is where the government money should go, not corn.

Blender pumps are great, if your engine is set up to run the blend you select. The engine’s compression ratio is what determines the highest efficiency, not ignition timing (which is what the inefficient FlexFuel vehicles rely on). Converting to exclusive ethanol useage is simpler and cheaper than CNG or hydrogen.

CNG actually DOES produce more low end engine torque than gasoline, which is why it makes a good fuel for local delivery fleets that have access to fill stations. Distribution and range make it less than attractive for long haulers, though.

The important thing is to not sit back (like our oh-so-efficient government) and argue endlessly about it, or wait for someone else to solve the problem for us. Don’t rely on the oil companies to solve your fuel issues, either. It isn’t in their best interests to do so, as long as they can pump their revenues out of the ground.

This is a golden opportunity for America to show the world our innovative genius….or our pitiful lack of it.