The Ethanol Papers - Paperturn manuscript - Flipbook - Page 224
Regarding the question raised about ethanol being energy negative, Edmunds'
story was written shortly after Ted Pimentel and Tad Patzek issued a very derogatory report on ethanol. They claimed ethanol was energy negative. This
report was commissioned by the oil industry, and the oil industry had their PR
people working overtime to get the results out to the media. I would say that the
two Edmunds writers were relying on the Pimentel-Patzek report or a third-party
report of the report.
However, as it turns out the Pimentel-Patzek report was severely criticized by
several other studies that showed the Pimentel-Patzek methodology and findings to be very wrong. I discuss this in greater detail in the lengthy report I wrote
in June 2013. You can find this discussion in Part 5 by CLICKING HERE.
I hope I have answered your request and addressed your issues.
August 9, 2015
Posted by COMPETITION ACCESSORIES:
What I want to talk about is ethanol fuels and what it's doing to motorcycles.
First off, pure ethanol is hygroscopic; it attracts water, to the point that it will pull
it out of the air. Ethanol and gasoline will mix, but ethanol, gasoline and water
will not; the ethanol-water mixture will come out of solution and settle on the
bottom of your tank or carburetor bowl. Add a little oxygen to the mix, and you
get rust. The water can also sink to the bottom due to its heavier density causing
the carbs to become gummed or have a solidified gel/varnish that will also damage the carbs.
Reply from MARC:
Hi CA - You are correct, ethanol is a hygroscopic substance. However, what
you've done - that is to say what others have done and you've followed them is to misuse the meaning of the word "hygroscopic" to attribute qualities to ethanol (alcohol) that do not exist. And this is where the problem lies.
Different substances are hygroscopic. In addition to ethanol, salt, cotton, diesel
fuel, and even gasoline are also hygroscopic. And the different hygroscopic
substances react differently. If you leave salt in an open container it will clump
up because of moisture in the air, but water does not form at the bottom of the
