I recently saw that Saab will be releasing a car that gets 400 horse power and runs on 100% Ethanol. Do you think it's likely that our Zs can be modified/converted to be Ethanol ready?

I know that Ethanol can get 105 octane and costs ~$1.95/gallon. However, I'm also aware that you get less gas (alcohol) mileage. Anyway, could our engines be converted?

 

that would be sweet, i dont know a ton about ethanol but i would love to keep the design of the z's going

 

It's a win win situation. Ethanol is a renewable resource, and I found out that Coors brewing company donates something like 2 million gallons of wasted or below average beer to the production of Ethanol. All we need is for more Ethanol stations to populate bigger cities, and the rural and sub-urban areas will follow suit.

 

how far away is this and how many vechicles use it?

 

Unfortunately, there are not a whole lot of stations that supply ethanol. I imagine it's due to corporate/political interests, but when our oil dependency comes to a head, it will be a necessity to supply a growing population with alternative fuel.

Else we all put our vehicles up on blocks while they come up with a solution.

 

Its called Rolling Rock beer.

 

ahh ok, will they still be able to produce normal horsepower?

 

The engine itself may be able to run on ethanol, but it's the hoses and other equipment that would get eaten alive. Nissan already has an ethanol friendly Titan and the 2007 Armada will be ethanol friendly too, so it's possible the newer Zs may be able to run both. However, I think it would be cost prohibitve to retrofit cars without equipment that ethanol won't eat through.

Additionally, ethanol does reduce your fuel economy presently, so the cost of the ethanol has to be low enough to make up the difference (anywhere between 15-30% lower). I do not think ethanol is that cheap right now (it's about $2.50 per gallon depending where you buy), and is part of the reason why regular gas is so expensive. Remember that the gas we use now is 10% ethanol. Also as we use more ethanol, food prices go up since there will be less food to sell on the open market. Until that problem is solved, I think using ethanol is a wash. You're paying less for gas but more for food.

 

*snap* My car is going to be an old classic sooner that I thought!

 

Typically engine's on ethanol make a tiny bit MORE power. The reason that there aren't many ethanol (well, really E85 (85% Ethanol, 15% Gasoline) the gasoline helps it not absorb too much water) stations is that there's very little demand. Ford and GM (especially) make LOTS of E85 capable cars, but nobody runs ethanol in them because it costs about the same (per gallon) and the mileage per gallon is about 20% lower. Essentially Ethanol costs 20% more than gasoline, because you pay the same price for 20% less energy.

Ethanoly may be a good solution someday when the cost to produce it goes down, but right now production is relatavely inefficient.

Look up stuff on Brazil, they're going over to it (and similar things) almost completely, but their economy is more suited for it (less cars/acre of farmland)

 

Don't hold your breathe on seeing it produced. That saab has been a concept for 3+ years now and just because it says ethanol its now been brought back from the dead and into the headlines. Grain alchohol is very bad for long term use which is why I'm pissed that Missouri gov Blunt signed the bill stating that all pumping in Misouri will be running ethanol within the next 2 years. I hope he's prepared to pay for the damaged engines.

 

Interesting, interesting. I know that ethanol has been around since the Model T, I hope we find some kind of solution to our energy needs though.

 

We've been using 10% Ethanol gasoline in Illinois for something like two decades and it's yet to ruin a car that I know of.

 

Sounds promising but like everything else in the world, soon as the demand starts rising so will the co$t.

 

Any engine can be made to run on ethanol. You can even brew your own stuff with a special permit, of course you have to pay taxes on each gallon you produce. Its more detailed than that but still kind of cool. I just don't think its practical in application for one person to try on their own.

 

stole the words out of my mouth...perfect point.

 

Ethanol will not take off… its just a fad right now. Ethanol is a pain to ship since its corrosive (pipelines won’t work) and we can’t grow enough corn for all of America to use the stuff.

 

Only reason ethanol is so expensive is because of politics. Brazil has been on ethanol for years now actually, and ethanol is cheaper there, why? because they produce their ethanol from soy which is much more efficient at being converted to ethanol.
The US uses corn to produce ethanol, corn is much less efficient....why would we use corn if soy is better???? ask congress about specific tarriffs against the import of brazillian soy, and how much they get from corn growers to keep soy out.

 

Okay, what about lining the pipelines with a non-corrosive material? We can't limit ourselves to the pipelines we use now for gasoline. As far as growing enough corn, with advances in hydraulic powered engines and the like, we theoretically would not depend on fuel alone to power our engines.

All I know is that our market is run off of emotion and I don't trust the Wallstreet/OPEC bed fellows. Even if we have enough petroleum for the future, investors will abuse oils effects on fluctuating inflation.

 

Ethanol will definitaley start to make more of an appearance. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but you will definitaley start to see a greater percentage of ethanol used in fuels, and i would estimate that within 10 to 15 years, ethanol will be the major fuel used. Just my thoughts.