You don't really get it . . .
Any cropland used for filling your fuel tank is lost for filling stomachs.
Are you really that selfish?
.
Experimenting with E85
- Thread starter A_Harman
- Start date
You don't really get it . . .
Any cropland used for filling your fuel tank is lost for filling stomachs.
Are you really that selfish?
.
You don’t get it.
That corn will never and can never be used to fill stomachs even if we don’t produce ethanol this year.
Farms have planting patterns and contracts decided long ago.
Much of this years crop is already planted for ethanol, let alone the fact all the money and decisions for what to plant were made late last year or at the latest January.
The farmers hands are contractually and monetarily decided, his raw materials are already in his bins for planting, if he made a business decision last year to plant seed for the ethanol industry this season he can’t change even if he wants to.
If you wanted farmers to plant food people could eat you would have had to motivate them last year, even then farmers make their own business decisions to plant seed for a particular industry like ethanol.
Aka we don’t centrally plan food and politics actually have no effect on what’s planted this year.
Food for people is likely less profitable so the farmers would have not had much motivation to plant corn that is useable for feeding people .
If we become desperate unlike the hard moldy green seed corn used to make ethanol , we (humans) can actually eat the leftover brewers yeast that results from making ethanol.
It is high in protein, B vitamins, minerals and other nutrients
The idea that corn used for ethanol “goes away” is a myth, you actually get more useable feed after processing than trying to kill animals with something that is only used to fatten animals the last week or two of their life.
As Rmay said, the leftovers from ethanol production, aka Distillers grains, is used as livestock feed. It can also be used as fertilizer and turned into compost. You’re not “taking away” any food used for filling stomachs.
I mixed the E85 with 93 because I already had a half-tank of 93 when I decided to try E85 to save some money. (If I were going to a track day, I would blend E85 with 93. Who wouldn't want 99 octane fuel for less than they're paying for 93?)
Now I'm extending the thought of saving money for commuting by blending 87 with E85 to maximize the economic benefit.
I have seen some references on heat content of gasolines, and 87 can be higher, but it depends on how the blender gets there. If they start with a baseline blend of 87 that has low ethanol, and blend in higher ethanol to get the 89, 91, and 93 blends, then yes, the 87 will have significantly higher heat content.
If this tank has as good or better fuel economy, I'll change the blend to 30% E85, 70% 87. That should yield 92.4 octane, and is above GM's recommended 91 minimum for my engine.
I will eventually run 100% E85 so I can plot a curve.
But it is taking away land that could be used to plant crops for human consumption....
I agree. I'll never get that lack of contiousness.
Did you even read my previous post?
Untrue. 'Leftovers' are by far insufficient to produce the quantities of ethanol used for fuel.
You're falling for fairy tales spread by the agroindustry.
.
Wish they did where I live, I've never seen those in NE Indiana. This would be really helpful when mixing a 36 gallon tank to get E30!
I guess theoretically the same corn could be used to make processed foods for human consumption on top of animal feeds. But there's only so much demand for corn flakes and hydrolyzed corn protein, which is already easily being met.
Theoretically a flex-fuel vehicle should be able to operate at near the same performance level with something like high octane racing unleaded. It might not have some of the benefits like the cooling from high amounts of ethanol. And on top of that there will be higher energy content meaning much better fuel economy. Of course not likely to make up for the high cost of racing fuel.
E85 vs. 114-Octane Race Gas on the Dyno With a Boosted Small-Block!
Let’s face it; if you are a car guy (or gal), this is a great time to be alive. Performance has never been easier or more powerful than it is right now. One of
Finished up the tank of 50/50 E85/87 today. 365 miles/13.5 gallons = 27 mpg. 10% down from straight 93, and 4% down from 50/50 E85/93.
Cost per mile was $4.25/gal / 27mpg = 15.7 cents per mile. So despite the lower fuel economy, cost per mile was lower.
New tankful is 30% E85 / 70% 87.
Cost per mile was $4.25/gal / 27mpg = 15.7 cents per mile. So despite the lower fuel economy, cost per mile was lower.
New tankful is 30% E85 / 70% 87.
These days anyone who buys mid grade has to be smokin something.
Premium should only cost a few cents more than RUG, should be criminal the markup they put on it.
And the below price spread is far from the largest, we have one station with $6 premium
Premium should only cost a few cents more than RUG, should be criminal the markup they put on it.
And the below price spread is far from the largest, we have one station with $6 premium
Very different from around here, 89 is usually right between 87 and premium in price. It is ridiculous on the price difference for Premium though, especially when all my vehicles use it. I remember when it was like 2-3%, really didn't have a huge impact compared to using regular and my Camaro wouldn't run on regular anyway.
I am getting ready to do a E85 conversion on my 2018 GMC 6.2 and see how it goes. Despite the fact that I have a big ethanol plant in town, I still have to drive out of town to get E85, at least it isn't very far. The difference between E85 and premium around here is 20%+, so it may be a worthwhile option. Waiting on a fuel hose now and then I will do the reprogramming of my PCM to allow use of the ethanol sensor and make the proper changes to the stoich tables. Not sure why the L86 engine wasn't flex fuel from the factory as it literally has everything except the ethanol sensor and the few changes in the tune to allow its use.
That pricing is so stupid. 50% 87 + 50% 91 would cost $4.69/gallon. Hell yeah, I'd run two transactions to save 61 cents per gallon if I had to buy 89 octane. I can run 89 in my Camaro in cold weather, so occasionally I'll do the two transaction thing if the pricing is right.
I can't run E30 on the stock tune without tripping a lean code, so it's not entirely apples to apples. But between a stock tune on my '19 F150 3.5EB and the E30 tune from 5 Star Tuning, my mileage drops from mid-22s down into the mid-18s depending on headwinds. This is even on flat smooth roads, which works out to roughly 16% mileage loss. But it takes the RWHP from around 320 to around 500-510 and the boost from about 13.8psi to nearly 22psi. It's totally worth the mileage loss though... it's a completely different truck!
Hermann
Site Donor 2023
Not sure I can buy E85 here in Kansas City.
New fuel economy report on my tankful of 30% E85/70% 87.
28.6 mpg @ $4.30 per gallon. ===> 15.0 cents per mile, which is ~10% better than straight 93.
I liked the result so well that I made another 30/70 blend to see if the result will repeat.
The Buick is running well on this blend, and has plenty of acceleration to get to jail-worthy speeds.
28.6 mpg @ $4.30 per gallon. ===> 15.0 cents per mile, which is ~10% better than straight 93.
I liked the result so well that I made another 30/70 blend to see if the result will repeat.
The Buick is running well on this blend, and has plenty of acceleration to get to jail-worthy speeds.
Yes, the sticker on the pump at Speedway says the E85 can vary from 51 to 83% ethanol.
So I'm not sure what it is that I'm pumping into the tank.
Really bugs me that Michigan says my E85 will never get over E83. What ever happened to truth in advertising?
Another fuel economy report: 296 miles on 10.0 gallons of 30/70 E85/87.
29.6 mpg, up 1.0 mpg from the last tank.
New fill-up is 33% E85/67% 87. My daily round-trip commute is 136 miles, so I have to fill up every two days.
This is looking like a nice way to partially offset the high cost of gas. I'm loving filling up with 92+ octane for a cost lower than regular. The fuel economy penalty is acceptable, and my cost per-mile is lower.
29.6 mpg, up 1.0 mpg from the last tank.
New fill-up is 33% E85/67% 87. My daily round-trip commute is 136 miles, so I have to fill up every two days.
This is looking like a nice way to partially offset the high cost of gas. I'm loving filling up with 92+ octane for a cost lower than regular. The fuel economy penalty is acceptable, and my cost per-mile is lower.
Cujet, what engine do you have. My 2014 F150 has the 3.7 "Flex Fuel". I just today discovered a nearby station has E85 at $1.00 less than regular so I'm thinking of trying it.
Similar threads
