REFLECTOR: New Aviation Fuel?

[Douglas Holub]

Ethanol is liquid solar energy. The sun shines on green growing things and 
the miracle of photsynthesis turns light energy into chemical energy in the 
form of carbon molecule bonds.

Turning corn into alcohol isn't the most efficient way to turn light into 
fuel. When you subtract the energy used to produce the fertilizer and 
pesticides and the fuel for the tractors, the process is net energy 
positive, but it's not dramatic. There are some plants that create more 
carbon per energy input, however, and they quadruple the net energy 
available.

It would take about 50 million acres of farm land to grow enough of these 
prarie grasses or sapling trees to produce enough alcohol to ween us from 
foreign sources of oil.  As I am writing this, our government pays farmers 
not to grow anything on 40 million acres of farm land.

Home grown alcohol fuels 80% of Brazil's automobiles today. They make their 
alcohol from sugar cane.

Tell your congressman to support bio fuels. America can grow lots of fuel. 
Lets send billions of dollars to the Midwest instead of to the Middle East.

Forgive the non-aviation related diatribe, but I am concerned that the most 
unstable region in the world has our economy by the short hair.

Doug Holub
Making my fuel tanks 20% bigger for ethanol
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Andy Millin" <amillin at sbcglobal.net>
To: "'Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list'" <reflector at tvbf.org>
Sent: Monday, July 17, 2006 3:02 PM
Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: New Aviation Fuel?


> Ethanol may be an answer.  In automotive it will get you 20% lower MPG.  I
> am assuming it will get you 20% few hours in the tank.
>
> Ethanol also changes the capacitance of the fuel.  For those with
> capacitance type probes, it will not read the same as avgas.  You will 
> need
> to recalibrate ... every time you change to a different blend percentage.
>
> Andy
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org] On
> Behalf Of Scott Derrick
> Sent: Monday, July 17, 2006 3:50 PM
> To: Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list
> Subject: REFLECTOR: New Aviation Fuel?
>
> http://www.age85.org/
>
> Scott
>
> -- 
>
> -
>    Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it.
>
>    George Bernard Shaw, Liberty
>
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