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        General >> Give/Need advice to/from others >> Ethanol in petrol!!
        
(Message started by: ro284 on Jan 3^rd, 2012, 10:15pm)

Title: Ethanol in petrol!!
Post by ro284 on Jan 3^rd, 2012, 10:15pm

I read recently that supermarkets now add up to 10% ethanol to petrol. i read this in a car enthusiasts mag, apparently if they add more than 10% they have to put up a sign to say so, According to the mag. in higher percentages it can be a bad thing in older cars, such as seal failure, and possibly other ways as well! i will see if i can find out more, but i never knew about it. anyone have any views or more onfo on this?
cheers Bob

Title: Re: Ethanol in petrol!!
Post by Simmo on Jan 4^th, 2012, 8:00am

A Google search turned up This article (http://www.jawaczownersclub.co.uk/technical_advice13.htm) which may help. Would appear to be 'progress'! ???.

Title: Re: Ethanol in petrol!!
Post by martin_rowe on Jan 4^th, 2012, 9:31am

Its now normal practise to add Etanol to Petrol, think 10% is the limit, though SAAB did market a Bi fuel Ethanol car that would accept upto 15% Ethanol, but that never cought on, not many p[laces that sold the fuel either.
Adding Bio Diesel to normal Diesel also happens, but much over 7% content starts to cause problems with most of the common rail diesel systems, to the extent that we are now advised to test the fuel quality on every vehicle thats presented with a Diesel fault.

Title: Re: Ethanol in petrol!!
Post by Mike H on Jan 4^th, 2012, 2:00pm

I read recently one opinion is ethanol added fuel gets more corrosive the older it gets, but just someone's opinion oft the Internet. It's corrosive to the flexible pipes by the way, unless they have a recent type rating standard.

Title: Re: Ethanol in petrol!!
Post by Tekno on Jan 4^th, 2012, 11:30pm

flexfuel cars can run RE85, which is 85% ethanol

Title: Re: Ethanol in petrol!!
Post by Jonnycab on Jan 5^th, 2012, 4:56am

As far as I'm aware, ethanol (pure alcohol) is supposed to be the bio-fuel of the future.....completely organic & alot less harmful to the the environment than fossil fuels....

.....Trouble is, because ethanol is derived from sugar cane etc, then it will never be a fuel that is sold on the forecourts, simply because the world oil markets & the fuel producers (Saudi's etc) would never allow it :(

They would rather dig it out of the ground than grow it out of the ground ::)....& it keeps the governments in the safe knowledge that they can continue to tax us to death & make us feel guilty about polluting the planet at the same time.......HYPOCRITES !!!! :P

Title: Re: Ethanol in petrol!!
Post by PJDavis on Jan 5^th, 2012, 8:09am

You are SOOOO right Jonny. The world has been capable of moving away from Oil to power vehicles for many years, but how many middle-eastern 'princes' would there be if the world didn't need Oil? ;)

Title: Re: Ethanol in petrol!!
Post by lleewar on Jan 5^th, 2012, 9:13am

I worked in the Tate and Lyle factory in Silvertown. Ethanol was being produced towards the end of the eighties/early nineties, but even a factory that refines more than a million tonnes of sugar a year( the largest factory that does so), it and the rest of the worlds sugar producers cannot create anywhere near the levels required to run the worlds car population. Percentage wise it would be insignificant. Any fuels created to run motor vehicles, even water, would be taxed, there is no evading it.

Title: Re: Ethanol in petrol!!
Post by Simmo on Jan 5^th, 2012, 8:56pm

on 01/05/12 at 09:13:47, lleewar wrote:

Any fuels created to run motor vehicles, even water, would be taxed, there is no evading it.

Will you never learn Lee !.. ;D Jonnycab will be sure to latch on to this with a vengance!! :D ;D He'd obviously had a bad night last night ( and a few snifters) now you've set him off again!!. ;D ;D ;D

Title: Re: Ethanol in petrol!!
Post by lleewar on Jan 5^th, 2012, 9:09pm

I say " bring it on". Haha ;D ;D ;D

Title: Re: Ethanol in petrol!!
Post by Simmo on Jan 5^th, 2012, 9:34pm

Title: Re: Ethanol in petrol!!
Post by Mike H on Jan 6^th, 2012, 1:53pm

Couple of nights ago I re-watched a Horizon prog I'd recorded, from 2008 ~ professor Brian Cox looking at what are the chances for nuclear fusion reactors even being possible, never mind meeting our future energy needs.

He was looking at various experimental sites & talking to the various scientists, one guy whose name I've forgotten spelled out the problem quite well.

The problem with fossil fuel (basically, solar power stored in fossilised plant material) is it's "too good", it has 1,000 times more energy than TNT or dynamite.

OK so they looked at a hyperthetical 25 years 'Brian Plan' (after Brian Cox) to change the world to alternative energy sources.

Can't remember the exact number details but it involves something like, for example:

A new nuclear fission power station built every 6 months for 25 years.

X thousands of wind turbines generators installed every year for 25 years.

2 solar panels per second installed for the next 25 years.

Problee more but can't remember.

By the way this will have to be a global effort, that is, every country in the world doing all the above for 25 years. What are the chances of organizing that? Cox said that in 2007 we spent more money on ring tones than we did on fusion research.

The numbers are just for the current world population, which will increase so you will have to account for that as well.

Title: Re: Ethanol in petrol!!
Post by Jonnycab on Jan 6^th, 2012, 2:01pm

on 01/05/12 at 20:56:38, Simmo wrote:

It's okay, I'm cool now ;)........just gotta have a bit of a rant every now & then ;D

.....Although ::).....If I may politely add ;).....In Brazil (second largest producers of ethanol after USA), all fuel is now 25% ethanol. Granted, Brazil is a vast country & therefore has alot of land to actually grow the amount of sugar cane required. If certain areas of various countries were used for mass growing of sugar cane, then ethanol production levels could eventually reach that of fossil fuels one day.......or a utopian idea ? ::)