ORIGINAL: MTK
ORIGINAL: cmoulder
The entire ethanol thing is a big political scam, but that is a different topic.
Man, is that a mouthful of truth. Ethanol as we now know it would not exist without subsidies (tax dollars) because it is not economically feasible on its own. The simple fact is that it takes 7 units of energy to produce 6 equivalent units of corn-derived ethanol energy.
Something wrong with that equation. I hope cellulosic ethanol (using enzymes to break down any plant waste) can prove to be truly economical.
There was a MAN article within the last few months on the practicality of running glow engines on ethanol fuels, and the bottom line is... it isn't. Don't think we will be running our SAP-180's on ethanol anytime soon. Methanol boost, maybe?
I think that there is some documented evidence that methanol works pretty well as both an energy booster and oxygenator to gasoline (isooctane and heptane mix for the most part). The problem with methanol that I have is that if we start to use this as additive, then some of the maintenance benefit goes away. I'd suspect that bearing problems would return for example. I'm not sure that it's something I'd want to do long term....as an experiment to see, then no problem
The maintenance issue is a good point. Methanol will attract moisture and quickly cause corrosion of any metal parts, and could hurt the carb seals and diaphragms depending on the materials used to make them. That is one problem the E-85 type fuel is causing in vehicles not specifically designed to run on it.