The Ethanol Alternative

With gasoline prices at the pumps ranging anywhere from .84 to $1.09 per liter, the highest since the holiday season one can only wonder how high the ceiling is before the walls cave in. In the east the sense of entitlement to Alberta crude is outrageous and extremely audacious, considering that Alberta's influence over the Government has been ignored up until the time the Harper administration took power… There is a viable solution to our chronic dependence that like all other nations have on the hydrocarbon fuels. We have an abundance of this raw material here in the east and elsewhere in this wonderful Country of ours. The fuel is corn and it is readily available for processing with the right Government support initiatives behind its development. You know it as "Ethanol blend" at the pumps and currently we only add 05% ethanol to current octane products available. Yes it's true that soon legislation will pass into law which will make the sale of gasoline illegal without it containing 05% ethanol, but that is the tip of the iceberg concerning the need to expedite the necessity of pushing the envelope with the current windfall profiteering of a barrel of oil threatening to break $70.00 a barrel soon. Presently motor vehicles can be run on 85% ethanol, but engineering changes will be necessary, as its new combustion properties must be accommodated for in the automotive industry. http://www.eere.energy.gov/afdc/altfuel/eth_benefits.html The draw backs concerning this alternative at 85% is that the fuel burns hotter which will effect the cooling of the engine block, but the gains are substantial with it burning much more completely improving the efficiency of the automobile, and helping to reduce varnish deposits in the engine and pollution emissions into the environment. One thing is certain, the oil industry is certain to put them selves out of business as we are going broke trying to get to the work place, and daily the cost of a liter of fuel has been eating away at all of our resources. We cannot sustain its ever-increasing demands to the costs to doing business on its dirty greedy terms… The writing is on the wall! http://autos.canada.com/news/story.html?id=2af84b90-5a4d-4de6-a314-b392afa1b144 We must heed it, or pay an enormous price for failure. http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2006/08/31/1789134-sun.html