Wal-Mart Looking to Sell E-85

[Nelson Atwell]

This may actually work out to be a cheaper alternative for us.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Let's hope...at $70+ a barrel for crude, IF we had a good distrubition system then all reports I have read state that E-85 could make a lot of sense.



TJR

 

[Bill V]

But that's just it--will it ever make a lot of sense? After all, the makers of E85 will always want to maximize their profits, the same as anyone out there. And as I understand the technology (which I'll grant may be significantly off), they're always going to be competing with gasoline--meaning that when the price of gas goes up, the price of E85 will also go up. Granted, the decreased demand on gasoline would cause its price to drop some, but does anyone out there think E85 is going to make enough of a dent in the gas demand to affect that price more than a few pennies a gallon?

 

[Fudged Undies]

Big issue will also be the fact the many/most don't own E-85 compliant vehicles. Last I checked (not recently) you couldn't find a station if FL that had E.

 

[D Knx]

I believe that it is a national security issue now, we probably wouldn't have gone into Iraq if it were not for their oil reserves. Other than that it's a pretty barren place. It's important for us to become as self sufficient as possible, as soon as possible with our fuel supplies.



Again, I'd rather pay more now on alternatives produced in America BY Americans than to continue being used by big oil and OPEC.



Wal-Mart at least has the right idea, it's time to do something! Unfortunately our government leaders have yet to see any urgency.



D-

 

[shawn stonbraker 2]

There isn't a place around me that even sells E-85. My wifes Mountaineer will take it but like I said, no place sells it.

 

[Bart Adkins]

I hope I can get some soon! There isn't any within a four hour drive from my house.:angry:

 

[Gavin Allan]

Too bad producing and using E-85 actually makes us MORE dependent on foreign oil. E-85 is energy-negative: it takes gobs of electrical, natural gas, or fuel oil energy to make it--due to production losses, more energy goes in than what comes out in the E-85.



There is an excellent article about E-85 in Car and Driver:

 

[Deleted deleted]

I'll stick with 87 unleaded... more mpg as well.

 

[Tom Schindler]

I used to have an E-85 flex fuel vehicle...'04 Trac.

My '07 isn't compliant....now, does that make sense?

It makes perfect sense. Why do vehicle manufacturers make E-85 complient vehicles? Here is why.



According to the government, E-85 only has 15% fuel. So, lets say I get 22 MPG with 87 octane fuel, and 18 MPG with E-85. Since E-85 is only 15% gasoline, you are driving 18 miles on only 19.2 ounces of fuel compared to 22 miles on 115 ounces of gasoline in regular E-10 fuel we currently use.



Ford and GM make E-85 compliant vehicles to boost the CAFE.





Tom

 

[Mike Wilson]

I'll tell y'all again, I'm gettin' 21-22 miles per gallon in my '05 on slightly hilly terrain

for 50% of my daily commute, 82 miles, round trip!

What are you guys doing?

I have no engine mods at all, and use BP 87 octane.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Actually, Gavin, you show some bias when you say:

Too bad producing and using E-85 actually makes us MORE dependent on foreign oil. E-85 is energy-negative: it takes gobs of electrical, natural gas, or fuel oil energy to make it--due to production losses, more energy goes in than what comes out in the E-85.

The article was much more unbiased when it said:

Actually, the picture is not this bright, because fossil fuels are used in the production of ethanol. In fact, some studies have concluded that making ethanol from agricultural crops requires more energy than is contained in the finished product. There is no academic agreement on this point, and small differences in assumptions can profoundly alter the conclusions. For example, will the corn yield be 125 bushels per acre, or 127, or 140? Will you get 2.5 gallons of ethanol per bushel, or 2.68, or 2.80?

I have read as many articles that say Ethanol can be cost-effective as I have it can't.



TJR

 

[Sean M 2]

Very informative article..That stuff about the CAFE was very interesting.

 

[Bill Ellis]

Maybe it does cost more in fossil fuel energy than you get back from the ethanol NOW. But, consider that in the future that farm equipment will be using biodiesel fuel. Ethanol feedstocks will be something other than corn; some form of weed plant that is prolific and requires no care and doesn't even need to be planted [self-seeding]. In Brazil they use sugar cane and are getting a positive energy return. Remember, just over 100 years ago it was cheaper to feed a horse than it was to buy gasoline and people claimed that the auto would never catch on. Humans have always lived in an economic replacement environment. We don't move on to the next thing until the current thing becomes too expensive and a lower cost alternative is developed. It will happen again and again and..............

 

[TomT]

Not to mention the fact that I would rather support our farmers then a bunch of foreigners.

 

[Gavin Allan]

Too bad you aren't supporting farmers when you buy E-85. You are supporting the farm lobby and oil companies who are selling E-85 for nearly the same price as regular, even though they are able to purchase it on the wholesale market for $0.50 a gallon cheaper.



I'm not opposed to progress, but I don't believe the smoke they are blowing up our rears about E-85, because E-85 is a whole lot more about shifting tax dollars and providing subsidies and political rewards than it is about sound energy policy.

 

[Bill V]

TomT, do you know what country provides more of our oil than any other country?



USA! We produce about 40% of the oil we use.



Any guesses to who's second and third? Saudi Arabia? Nope. Kuwait? Not even in the top 5. Venezuela? Still wrong.



#2 is--Canada! Closely followed by #3--Mexico. Those two combine to provide about 35% of our oil. That's right--over three fourths of our oil comes from North America! But the rest is all from the Middle East, right? No--#4 is Venezuela, and although Saudi Arabia is #5, we actually get as much of our oil from Africa as we do from all the Middle East put together.



If you do know this already, great--more power to you. But I think you can agree that a LOT of Americans are under the misperception that the majority of our oil comes from the Middle East...

 

[TomT]

Well I sure the heck don't want to support those Canadians!

 

[Gavin Allan]

I support the Windsor Ballet whenever I get a chance...

 

[2]

Bill V, I just hear about a survey they did in the states where only 5% of the people the interviewed knew that Canada was such a large supplier of oil to the US. Most of them thought it came from the Middle East. Thanks for stating some facts.