Ethanol follies
Mar. 24th, 2008 10:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
petardierI knew ethanol was not a very efficient fuel source (1.3X return of energy), but did you know this:
Detroit loves ethanol because it can use it to inflate fuel-efficiency ratings on their cars artificially. The mammoth Chevy Suburban, produced as a flex-fuel vehicle capable of burning both ethanol and gasoline, magically boosted its fuel efficiency to 29 miles per gallon from 15, since under federal rules only a vehicle’s gasoline consumption need be factored into the equation. Ethanol, in other words, has allowed American car manufacturers to produce more gas guzzlers and contribute to increased imports of foreign oil.
Did you get that? Only gas consumption is counted in the MPG ratings! If true, this is completely outrageous. Would a car running totally on ethanol have in infinite MPG rating?
Info came from this review
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/07/books/07book.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
which is not totally positive, but makes it sound like the book might be worth getting from the library.
Detroit loves ethanol because it can use it to inflate fuel-efficiency ratings on their cars artificially. The mammoth Chevy Suburban, produced as a flex-fuel vehicle capable of burning both ethanol and gasoline, magically boosted its fuel efficiency to 29 miles per gallon from 15, since under federal rules only a vehicle’s gasoline consumption need be factored into the equation. Ethanol, in other words, has allowed American car manufacturers to produce more gas guzzlers and contribute to increased imports of foreign oil.
Did you get that? Only gas consumption is counted in the MPG ratings! If true, this is completely outrageous. Would a car running totally on ethanol have in infinite MPG rating?
Info came from this review
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/07/books/07book.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
which is not totally positive, but makes it sound like the book might be worth getting from the library.
