The Ethanol Papers - Paperturn manuscript - Flipbook - Page 204
unfortunately since it's virtually impossible to find gas without ethanol added,
even in Texas) is $3.00.
E100 has a specific energy of 26.4, while unadulterated gasoline has a specific
energy of 44.4.
E85 has (.85*26.4+.15*44.4) = 29.1
E10 has (.10*26.4+.90*44.4) = 42.6
Energy per $
E85 = 29.1/$2.70 = 10.78
E10 = 42.6/$3.00 = 14.20
Even though in the example E85 is $2.70 and regular gasoline is $3.00, the
regular gasoline gives you 31% more energy per dollar spent.
Reply from MARC:
Hi TS - Please allow me to jump in here. Internal combustion engines are inorganic, non-sentient machines. They do not react to the "food" they consume in
the same way that a live animal does. There are also no emotional highs or
lows felt by the machine to affect output. The energy output of an internal combustion engine is entirely related to engine optimization (mechanical adjustments, parts, and computer software).
The comparative measurements of fuel BTUs is an irrelevant intellectual exercise.
A comparably sized engine that is optimized to run on ethanol will produce the
same or better MPG than an engine optimized to run on gasoline. When arguing
energy balance issues as it pertains to automobile fuel, it is inaccurate to discount ethanol's lower BTU rating into the final net energy equation. At the least,
one gallon of ethanol is equal to one gallon of gasoline.
It doesn't matter that gasoline is rated at about 114,000 BTUs per gallon, and
ethanol is rated at 76,100 BTUs per gallon. MPG efficiency makes them 1:1 for
all practical purposes.
Moreover, in actual use, a vehicle using E85 instead of E10 or ethanol-free
gasoline does not experience the same loss in MPG as the BTU differences on
