Katie,
The statements made about ethanol _reducing pollution_ as an oxygenate are
true, if you're talking about adding it to gasoline blends and comparing
pollution. But "good for the environment" might be a stretch. Like
virtually all motorsports, they are burning hydrocarbons, producing carbon
dioxide, etc. obligatory slightly on-topic comment: Ethanol allows a higher
compression ratio - my buddies running modified midgets use ethanol in their
racing. It's got good specific power output, but it contains less energy
per gallon, and you're still producing nitrogen oxides with ANY combustion
engine, gas, alcohol, or even hydrogen powered, as you're burning air, not
pure oxygen. So they are NOT pollution free, though catalysts help reduce
the pollution impact.
There are tons of sources for information, many conflicting, on the subjects
of ethanol and Brazil. One good report I saw is at
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/02/06/8367959/
Making ethanol the old petroleum refinery way doesn't save on oil.
Apparently making it the new way does use less net petroleum, though this
isn't in as widespread use here in the U.S. Brazil's ethanol industry has
had its ups and downs as well, and it's expensive to retrofit a vehicle to
run ethanol efficiently. Ford has built and offered flex-fuel cars for a
few years but there isn't the ethanol infrastructure yet to make that "take
off", so it will be up to our lawmakers to provide incentives to help build
it into a realistic alternative to petroleum fuels.
Paul T.
> From: Katie Kelly <aceontour@yahoo.com>
> Subject: IndyCar and Ethanol
>
> ....For reasons obscure to
> me, the technology has yet to catch on in the United
> States.
>
> The good news is it seems that IndyCar has a different
> take on the fuel situation. I tell all my friends that
> professional motorsports is good for the environment
> and here is some hard proof:
>
> http://www.indycar.com/tech/ethanol.php
>
> - -Katie Kelly
|