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Originally Posted by sneaux96 Actually its for their own good. Planting crops every season takes nutrients out of the soil, no nutrients = no crops. |
That's why many farmers simply rotate which crops they grown in which fields. In Indiana, for example, corn and soybeans are the major crops, and each will use and replenish different nutrients, so the farmers will often plant one crop for a year or two, then the other. No need to just not plant anything - that doesn't really replenish much, aside from what the soil gets back from biodegrading remains of the last harvest.
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Originally Posted by sneaux96 As for ethanol in gas, I think its a good idea FOR NOW, helps the farmers, reduces our dependence on foreign nations, blah blah blah. BUT the idea that its better for the environment is absurd and companies that use ethanol and car manufacturers that make ethanol-friendly cars need to stop advertising ethanol as some miracle that will end global warming. |
You're certainly right - we're still burning oil. It may give off less of certain emissions (and probably more of others, which may or may not be as harmful - I haven't looked into such things). What it does do is slightly lessen our dependence upon foreign oil. The other thing in my mind is that several major countries that supply the US with oil have talked about using that as a weapon against us, whether by price gouging us, or cutting us off altogether. I see ethanol as a sort of "plan B" technology as well - if a bunch of oil counties banned together & cut us off, we could still make fuel we would need to operate & defend ourselves.
I do believe there is an over-attention given to corn-based ethanol, when other sources may be more efficient (switch grass, sugar, etc).
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Originally Posted by Techun what's wrong with 10 ethanol for your car? |
ethanol is more corrosive to rubber seals in the fuel system than gasoline, and in a high enough concentration over a long enough period of time will eat at those seals and cause leaks. lower concentrations don't have any notable effect, such as 10%. I personally wouldn't hesitate to use 15-20 percent on occasion if I needed to, but going back to a lower concentration for the next tank...
Also, ethanol is a higher octane than gasoline, and will burn hotter. In some cases, when they have changed a vehicle design to be E85 compatible, they have had to change to harder pistons to avoid the E85 from burning pits or burning through the piston eventually.
Another issue with ethanol is that has less energy per unit than gasoline, which results in a small decrease in fuel economy. In the smaller percentages it is usually not noticable, but in E85 people have observed a drop of several miles per gallon sometimes. Part of the problem is that cars made for E85 and regular gasoline cannot take advantage of E85's high octane rating of 100-105. If a car were designed to run on only E85 and other very high octane fuels, they could be designed for a higher compression and make better use of the energy that is there, and thus be more efficient.
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