Convert to Ethanol

This probably makes too much common sense: Why not just use the waste from food crops to power a biomass electric generator for homes and EVs? Gets rid of a lot of the inefficiencies involved in making ethanol.

 

Occam's razor:

There was recent, major pipeline shutdown from Canada to the Midwest refineries. The price of gasoline shot up ~$0.10-0.16 to nearly $3.00/gallon in some areas around Chicago from another report.
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Bob Wilson

 

I'm one of the guilty one's that use E-85,i have done since 18th March 2008,i installed an Eco-Flex unit at around 140,000km and just about to hit 317,000km,no probs so far but as David says it's a choice,i do use it at about a 50-50 mix although the station i get it from have started using E-5 in their unleaded,
For some reason i do get more mileage from using this particular mix,i've tried different mixes but if i don't run the A/C the first bar of the fuel gauge doesn't disappear until between 280-290km,i have used straight unleaded and i always come up 100km short than my 50-50 mix,
Ethanol here in Ireland is not corn based but dairy,made from whey,a by-product from cheese making process.

 

You really drive 70k a year? Yowsers.

 

70,000 km is under 44,000 miles, so it is high, but not taxi high. 90 mile commute each way every weekday.

 

Butanol has more energy per unit volume than Ethanol. Just less than gasoline per unit volume actually. So, conservation of energy is still in force.

 

In the US they feed that stuff to body builders....

 

All that should be going back into earth after composting. You can't sustainably keep taking stuff out of soil ....

 

I see your point, although it's not near as bad as what the present ethanol industry is doing now.

Back to your point, we have to use less and return more to avoid depleting the Earth.

 

I wonder why Little Miss Muffet didn't bulk up.

 

Al Gore's mea culpa for corn ethanol support - U.S. news - Environment - msnbc.com

 

That's a shocker! Next thing, he will admit that global warming is a scam and he will give back the Nobel Prize. I will be holding my breath.

 

OP,

Did you ever get an answer to your original question? Can a Prius burn Ethanol?
I tried to wade through all of the eco-drivel (data rich, fact poor) but I never got a (*ah,) clean answer to your question. Just curious really, since I don't pay for the gas that goes into my Prius.
I understand that Mama Yota doesn't "recommend" burning E85 in her little car, but I'm a little curious as to whether or not you've heard of anyone trying it out short or long term.

It's getting harder and harder to find 100-percent pure E-free gasoline for my motorcycles, so I'm resigned to burning the corn-fed stuff.
As far as the great corn debate goes, I can't help but wonder by people get their nickers in a knot over burning corn in a car, but there's hardly any mention of converting it into HFCS for use in foodstuffs...