The Ethanol Papers - Paperturn manuscript - Flipbook - Page 280
with them quite extensively. And we've published articles about ethanol and
small engines. One example is this: "Why Do Small Engines Suffer From Ethanol Problems?" (This story is included in this book)
What I will tell you is that many "auto mechanics" (small and large engine mechanics) know as little about ethanol as you; and like you, they have believed
all the bad propaganda spread by the petroleum oil industry. They have confused normal engine problems with problems they claim are caused by ethanol,
but in fact, many of the problems are caused by gasoline. To this point, I will
provide another link to a story you should read, and this one is "New Government Lab Research Confirms Ethanol Blend Fuels Are Better for Large and
Small Engines." Here's the link:
http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2016/09/22/286340-new-governmentlab-research-confirms-ethanol-blend-fuels-are-better.html.
Next, you bring up the issue of transporting ethanol via pipelines. There are two
things about this issue that you don't understand. The first is that the ethanolbusiness model should not be the gasoline-business model. Ethanol should not
be piped over long distances, and wouldn't be in a more robust ethanol-fuel
environment. Instead, ethanol would be produced locally and 'short' hauled to
retail outlets, similar to the dairy industry business model.
The second thing is that you assume that the pipelines used to transport ethanol
are not treated to be ethanol resistant. They are. The great mistake that you
and others have made is that you assume that gasoline and oil are not corrosive
and that precautions weren't made over time to make pipelines and tanks resistant to them. However, petroleum oil and the finished fuels are corrosive and
an anti-corrosive ingredient is added to gasoline. So it's really business as usual
for those who understand how to do this. To people such as yourself, it's a
surprise.
Ahh, then you introduce the "land issue" to try to show that you are a man of
"environmental conscience." Very nice. Unfortunately, for you, the land issue is
really a waste of time because ethanol can be produced from so many different
materials, including ocean algae and waste. As even you might imagine, using
algae and seaweed requires no land whatsoever to grow the necessary crops
- they flourish naturally. Using wood chips and other "cellulosic" materials requires no extra land to grow anything.
However, even if you would like to just make this an academic argument for fun
and consider only ethanol produced from corn then I suggest you read either
David Blume's fabulous book "ALCOHOL CAN BE A GAS," or visit his website
