Ethanol, it just makes sense
John Schlageck
Saturday, February 23, 2008
What can one person — you, for instance — do to reduce pollution, decrease America’s dependency on foreign oil and stimulate our economy?
Use ethanol. Buy vehicles that run on ethanol. And ask your gasoline distributor to stock and clearly label gasoline pumps that feature ethanol.
Ethanol is a clean-burning, renewable fuel. Ten percent, ethanol-enriched fuel reduces carbon monoxide better than any other gasoline by as much as 30 percent. The use of 10-percent ethanol-enriched fuel reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 12–19 percent compared with conventional gasoline, according to Argonne National Laboratory. E85 is the cleanest burning fuel available on the market today. Today, nearly all auto manufacturers approve, and even recommend, fuel enriched with up to 10-percent ethanol for all cars. Most vehicles produced since 1982 can operate on gasoline/ethanol blends up to 10-percent ethanol.
If you’re unsure whether your older car is suited for ethanol, check the owner’s manual or ask a reputable mechanic. By looking at your vehicle’s fuel cap, you can tell if it’s a flex-fuel vehicle — meaning it can run on regular gasoline, 10-percent ethanol-enriched fuel or E85.
Fuel enriched with 10-percent ethanol is also manufacturer-approved for use in small engines including power equipment, motorcycles, snowmobiles and outboard motors.
Ethanol is the highest-performance fuel on the market, with an octane rating of 113 in its pure form. Ethanol-enriched fuel contains more oxygen so it burns cleaner. Fuel enriched with 10-percent ethanol burns cleaner, helping to remove gummy deposits in the fuel system so engines can run with optimal performance.
Ethanol is American made. It is made primarily from corn and milo crops grown in this state and across our country. Today there are more than 110 ethanol plants in the United States. Ethanol replaces gasoline that would require the use of 600,000 barrels of oil a day. The United States produced more than 4.8 billion gallons of ethanol last year.
This country’s ethanol industry supported the creation of more than 160,000 jobs in all sectors of the economy in 2005, boosting household income by $6.7 billion.
You may have noticed when you’re filling up at the pump that the Ethanol label has been removed from gas stations across Kansas. This change in this state’s ethanol labeling occurred two years ago – the thinking being that some consumers might view the label as a “warning” not to use this fuel when nearly all vehicle manufacturers today warranty that ethanol is acceptable in their engines.
What fuel you put in your car is an individual decision and it should be. It just makes sense in an agricultural state like Kansas to help stimulate our local economies, reduce our dependence on foreign oil and reduce pollution in our environment.
You can have a voice. You can make an impact. You can vote with your dollars. You can do your part to promote the increasing use of renewable fuels.
Buy ethanol today.
Comments
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Posted by bobhornet (anonymous) on February 24, 2008 at 1:14 p.m. (Suggest removal)
How does a fuel that takes more energy to produce than it gives out represent a sensible solution to our nation's energy woes? Ordinary people are seeing the real price of ethanol--higher feed costs, smaller cattle herds, skyrocketing grocery prices.
Ethanol is a poor fuel choice: poor for our engines, poor for the environment, and poor for consumers who are trying to make ends meet.
Posted by olddog (anonymous) on February 24, 2008 at 2:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)
"Do drivers have right to know what they are pumping into their fuel tank?".
Legislator: Don't label ethanol at the pump
February 15, 2008
The president of the Iowa Senate thinks if the ethanol identification stickers were removed
from gasoline pumps at stations in the state, motorists would buy more of the corn-based fuel.
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pb...
Posted by olddog (anonymous) on February 24, 2008 at 2:46 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Not all vehicles are set up to run on ethanol ... I think people have the right to know what they are purchasing!
Next manufacturers will want to remove the Nutritional facts and ingredients on food products so they can sell more.
Posted by CAFEmporia (anonymous) on February 24, 2008 at 2:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)
John Schlagek is the agriculture reporter for the Pittsburg, Kansas, Morning Sun. As such, posting here is of questionable ethics, though he does clearly identify himself by name. Regardless, it would have been considerably better had he continued his identification to allow us to understand that he gets paid for his bias. He may be correct in what he says, but when it is his job to promote an economic sector, I do not think it is proper to be creating forum threads on other media's web sites. This is for "amateurs" - the legendary "common citizens" - to express ourselves in response to the local paper as well as to bring up threads, ourselves.
Posted by olddog (anonymous) on February 24, 2008 at 3:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Kansas is mentioned in the link above!
Posted by olddog (anonymous) on February 24, 2008 at 3:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Kansas made a similar move, and ethanol sales soared.
Posted by jibberish66 (anonymous) on February 24, 2008 at 10:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The flirtation with Ethanol is a nice idea, but we can't possibly produce enough to eliminate or even lessen our dependence on Middle Eastern oil. Perhaps if we could drill in the 2% of the Alaskan National Wildlife Reserve asked for, utilize coal and shale oil reserves more, drill off the coast of Florida, install wind farms off the coast of Massachusetts, build more nuclear power plants, and build more refineries for the first time in three decades, we could add those to the ethanol production to become self-sufficient. Here's an idea--build refineries on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande. We wouldn't have to worry about the Sierra Club, we could provide jobs for Mexican citizens looking to improve their station in life, and we could import the lions share of fossil fuels from our closest neighbor to the south. We could just run a pipeline across the river to Texas and trucks could take it the rest of the way. Then we could flip Saudi Arabia and their madrassas a big old finger. God Bless America!
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