The Ethanol Papers - Paperturn manuscript - Flipbook - Page 68
The event that changed everything was General Motor’s
discovery of tetraethyl lead as the gasoline additive to silence annoying engine knock, while permitting GM to build
better performing high compression engines. Conversely,
alcohol fuel did not cause knock and could be used in
higher compression engines. Engines had to be dumbeddown to accommodate early gasoline, which was more
readily available than alcohol. GM’s patented process was
the game-changer because with the patent and subseThe infamous
quent teaming with Standard Oil it meant that GM could
Lakeview
Oil Gusher
earn about three cents per gallon for almost every gallon
Disaster of 1910
of leaded “ethyl” gasoline sold – they estimated that profits
would be in the billions by the time their patents expired. Keep in mind, these
were profits that required almost no GM personnel, factory allocations, or product design and development funding (past the initial exploratory phase). It was
pure profit; profit that they would receive regardless of a vehicle’s manufacturer,
as long as the consumer used lead gasoline. Alcohol distillation didn’t offer comparable unique processes that could be patented.
Armed with the new found (potential) wealth, there was nothing that was going
to stop General Motors, not even the deaths of dozens of employees as a result
of working with the lead formulas. Likewise, it was full-speed ahead for Standard Oil who now had a gasoline-committed partner/customer that just happened
to be the world’s number one automaker. (Although GM and Standard Oil would
never be charged for collusion or conspiracy regarding their lead gasoline venture, they were found guilty of conspiracy in Federal Court in what became
known as the “Great American Streetcar Scandal.”)
However, there was one thing that stood in the way of gasoline’s complete dominance as an engine fuel: Ethanol was better than gasoline in every way (power,
environmental issues, cost, safety, renewable availability, and no reliance on
foreign sources). Considering that America was the only industrialized country
in the western hemisphere or Europe with alcohol prohibition, there was still
plenty of potential competition from alcohol. Additionally, as it was possible that
Prohibition could eventually be overturned (which it was), alcohol and all its
advantages would be back to challenge the monopoly of gasoline and billions
of dollars in extra profits. There was only one thing to do; lie about alcohol. Yes,
good old propaganda.
Amazingly, nearly all the lies and misconceptions dreamed up by the oil/gasoline lobby in the teens and twenties to fight ethanol are still with us today.
