I have a 2003 Chevy Tahoe "Flex Fuel". Do I need to convert anything to run ethanol or am I good to go? Looked online but couldn't fing anything. Thanks!
You can use ethanol but only after adding a cup of sugar and some cream to the tank. Splenda will not do the trick.
I'm pretty sure you're good to run on E85 (85% ethanol, 15% gasoline) but not E100 (100% ethanol). So you couldn't empty a handle of everclear into the tank if you ran out of gas. Why do you want to run on ethanol anyway? Ethanol has 2/3's the energy content of gasoline, so a gallon of ethanol would only get you 2/3 the distance of a gallon of gasoline.
Actually you could put everclear in your tank and you'd go. You'd have schit for power, but you'd move.
ding ding ding!!! why anyone would want to use ethanol is beyond me. i mean i understand the wanting to wean off of foreign oil, but ethanol isn't the answer. i'm not sure how many people are aware of the efficiency of ethanol, specifically the corn based ethanol that is most frequently being used.
I've done a lot of research on alternative fuels for various classes and I came to the conclusion that ethanol in its current form just ain't getting its fair shake. Corn-based ethanol is just plain r****ded. Any fuel source that is based off a basic food staple (both for human and animal consumption) is just going to drive up the cost of basic food necessities (meat, dairy, eggs), which it has. Despite the fact that ethanol has only 2/3 the energy of gasoline, it actually a very efficient, clean burning fuel source that is used heavily in certain fields. I believe it is formula one cars are tuned to use ethanol. Ethanol-tuned cars use higher compression ratios (15:1 as opposed to 8:1 in your average internal combustion engine-ICE) which incorporate more oxygen per compression stroke and thus burn hotter per stroke. This hotter burning from the extra oxygen really negates the negative of having nearly 1/3 less energy than gasoline per unit volume. Ethanol's bad rep comes when idiots like GM come along and crank out fuel flex vehicles that can run both gas and ethanol. The base engines are still traditional gas ICE's that have 8:1 compression ratios(CR's), but they burn the ethanol at the 8:1 ratio as well. That completely wastes ethanol's ability to burn at significantly higher CR's and really makes the lower amount of energy per unit stand out. GM effectively made running ethanol in a fuel flex worthless. Now if some automaker would turn out an ethanol-tuned ICE engine @ 15:1 compression ratios like those formula one cars, I guarantee the performance and fuel efficiency would be similar if not better than gasoline along with all the touted environmental benefits of ethanol over gas. Now as for the ethanol itself, corn-ethanol is not the answer. Cellulosic ethanol is. Wikipedia it if you have any questions. I've done my research and am convinced its the savior of the energy industry. It could single-handedly wean us off our dependence on foreign petrol while also being more environmentally friendly. We're talking something that is more attainable and practical than hydrogen fuel cell cars or biodiesel fuel. Interestingly enough this is Bush's main focus of his energy policy and he always uses it as an excuse as to why he doesn't invest in other alternative energy sources (that and the whole he loves petrol bit). I think cellulosic ethanol is the future and if it evolves in the way Bush says he wants it to, then it'll be his lasting legacy (IMHO even more so than Iraq). Conclusions: Corn-ethanol- bad Fuel Flex cars- bad Cellulosic ethanol- good
i'll look in to cellulosic ethanol because i'm not exactly caught up on it. though i would argue that biodiesel is a more viable alternative for the fact that we can use our current infrastructure though that may be addressed on the wiki page.
I've thought about that but my concerns about biodiesel are: -biodiesel is cleaner burning than regular diesel, but I'm not sure if it's cleaner than ethanol. It's already becoming harder and more expensive to produce diesels that pass our emission standards while I'm almost positive an ethanol engine would make Tier 2 Bin 5 no problem. Tier 2 Bin 5 is the new emissions average the govt. is looking to make automakers aim for. (as a reference, the new Volkswagon TDI and Honda Accord diesel are Tier 2 Bin 5). I just don't see American automakers putting out a competitive mass-market sedan diesel that makes T2B5 without having a grossly expensive scrubber system. -while the infrastructure for diesel is set up, biodiesel has slightly different properties. Being made from vegetable oil, the fuel congeals are a much higher temperature than normal diesel and that could muck up an infrastructure quite easily. It might not need an entirely new infrastructure, but it certainly would require changes, just as ethanol would. -cellulosic ethanol just has more source material. Any thing that's cellulolignosic can be made into cellulosic ethanol. Trees, leave, banana peels. Basically any organic matter with cellulose, which happens to be the most abundant organic material on earth.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Corn produces 400 gallons of ethanol per acre. Switch grass (cellulosic) produces 2300 gallons per acre. Algae would yield 8000 gallons of biodiesel and 5000 gallons of ethanol per acre (and it's a closed system and it can use salt water) Corn ethanol is 100% pandering to the corn lobby. The engineering behind corn ethanol makes absolutely no sense.
wow, i do algae and lignocellulosic research at UT-austin. def cool stuff. i'll have to agree ethanol is not the answer, and dont understand why this country has invested so much into it. besides... it is now known butanol is a much better source of energy over ethanol. but if i was to invest into biofuel... look into algae. so easy and cheap to grow and it produces crazy good oil content.
I was about to make a thread on this. I just found out our Yukon XL runs on E-85 and theres a station that provides it less than 5 miles away. IIRC, it breaks about even considering the cost and energy content vs gas, so I might as well burn cleaner fuel right? So even with say, a quarter tank of normal gas, I can just pull into the station and fill the rest of the tank with E-85?
I don't know what the price of "E85" is in your area, but for the longest time E85 actually costed more to run per year than gasoline - you get fewer mpg, so you'll be filling up more often. Plug your numbers in here : http://www.eere.energy.gov/afdc/progs/cost_anal.php?0/E85/ FYI : the Flex Fuel badge is just a marketing ploy. There were quite a few flex fuel vehicles that could accept E85 before they started putting the badge on them. I think Tahoes going back to 2002 and some pickups going back to 2000 could run E85.
I just got my license a few months ago and i am still deciding which car to buy, so i have a few newbie questions about ethanol: How do I know which cars can run on ethanol? Where can I check? Where can I fill up my car with ethanol? do all gas stations have ethanol? I am an environmentalist so i will not mind paying an extra few bucks to use ethanol.
not all stations carry e85, kroger does though. most new trucks are labeled flex fuel to indicate if it can run on ethanol or not. check online or the car manual to find out if the specific model you're looking for can handle it. though as an environmentalist, you should probably just buy a bicycle and ride it instead.
The "normal" gas we pump is 10% ethanol. I think you're wanting to look at E85 (85% ethanol), in which case : http://www.eere.energy.gov/afdc/progs/vehicles_search.php You can go here to find a list of possible fueling locations : http://www.eere.energy.gov/afdc/fuels/ethanol_locations.html
