Nickname: Ask Questions

Review: Great discussion. We?re asking the same questions. Join the discussion at facebook.com/askquestionsplease or learn more at www.askquestionsplease.com.

Date reviewed: Nov 17, 2009 3:21 PM

Nickname: no residue

Review: Residue wouldn?t come from ethanol. The opposite, really. Ethanol acts as a solvent (it?s really just alcohol) and cleans residue from engines. Occasional trouble occurs in some older engines, where there is a residue buildup from the oil, and the ethanol knocks it loose, clogging the engine. If you have an older engine and are using ethanol for the first time, make sure to change the filters frequently. Once that junk gets knocked out of there, though, you?re good to go.

Date reviewed: Oct 6, 2009 4:28 PM

Nickname: ohcc

Review: I AM NOT 100%SURE BUT IT APPEARS THAT ETHANOL IS LEAVING A LOT OF RESIDUE IN THE INTAKE AND CYLINDER HEADS OF AUTOMOBILES. I HAVE WORKED ON A LOT OF AUTOMOBILES IN THE PAST 30 YEARS, SEEMS AS THOUGH IN THE RECENT MONTHS WE ARE SEEING MORE BUILD UP IN THE INTAKE SYSTEM AND VALVES THAT WE WORK ON. NOT A GOOD THOUGHT.

Date reviewed: Sep 18, 2009 10:47 PM

Nickname: ethanolenergyefficient

Review: This has already been proven in this discussion, but I'll repeat it. It does not take more fossil energy to make ethanol than you get from it, and it hasn't for more than 20 years. Yes, the small, coal-fired farm stills in the 80s were inefficient, but that's like taking the stats from the first oil refineries ever built and calling that the industry standard. Latest estimates, published this year in the Yale Journal of Industrial Ecology, say that ethanol production has a 1.5-1.8 net energy ratio, which means you get 50-80 percent MORE energy from the process than you put into it. Cite your "facts" that say otherwise.

Date reviewed: Aug 19, 2009 3:41 PM

Nickname: ethanolfineforengines

Review: The only fuel lines corroded by ethanol are those more than 30 years old. Auto manufacturers have built fuel lines to take handle current ethanol blends for decades. If we're going to hold up alternative fuel research because some Pinto owners don't know to use straight gas, we're in serious trouble.

Date reviewed: Aug 19, 2009 3:37 PM

Nickname: ethanoldrivesdownprices

Review: Ethanol drives gas prices down, not up. A Wall Street Journal article addressed this, and a Merrill Lynch commodity strategist said gas prices would be about 15 percent higher if biofuels went away.

Date reviewed: Aug 19, 2009 3:35 PM

Nickname: ethanolisnottheanswer

Review: Something needs to be done about our foreign dependence on oil, no one is disputing this. However, E85 ethanol is not the answer. It is too costly to produce and does nothing but drive up the price of gasoline. We are encountering severe problems with the dry fuel eating away at the fuel lines and seals in a vast majority of gasoline engines. We have been told that some vehicles need a higher octane fuel but this is mainly because of the damaging effects of ethanol. It takes just as much fossil fuel to produce the ethanol as it would to just run strait gasoline. We need a change in our fuel but for now we should be drilling in Alaska! There are hundreds of years of resources there that we should fully exploit.

Date reviewed: Aug 18, 2009 6:27 AM

Nickname: jpm

Review: Bust the myth! You can run e85 in any vehicle with a computer module that adjusts the timing and fuel mixture. All cars with this computer can run e85. Made in america by americans, and water comes out the tailpipe. What could be more american? Save our tgroops, use ethanol...screw big oil and their dirty fuels dug from the ground...this is the old fuel which is killing our citizens slowly through air pollution damage. We have the answer to these health prblems right in front of our faces. The reason you can't find it readily is because big oil doesn't want you to stop using their dirty, archaic fuel...Go read "Ethanol can be a gas". Get with it america...bust all the misleading myths about this clean, renewable fuel made in america by americans...save our troops!

Date reviewed: Aug 4, 2009 5:29 AM

Nickname: jakesaboy

Review: many boat owners are having engine problems apparently because of ethanol. dealers are selling additives for the hybird gasohol to prevent the engines from seasing-up with vapor-lock. corn is for animal consumption not propulsion

Date reviewed: Aug 4, 2009 1:24 AM

Nickname: BACKWOOD

Review: EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT ANYBODY IN THE BUSINESS OF MAKING MONEY AT SUCH HIGH LEVELS ARE ONLY INTERESTED IN ONE THING: MAKING MONEY.. AND THEY DON'T CARE WHO GETS TRASHED IN THE PROCESS. I DON'T KNOW WHAT GASAHOL DOES TO THE ECOLOGY. I DON'T OWN A MOTOR BOAT,I OWN A CANOE. I HAVE YARD TRACTORS,CHAINSAWS,WEEDEATERS,A ROTOTILLER,LOG SPLITTER,POWER MOWER AND A PRESSURE WASHER AND I DON'T HAVE ANY PROBLEMS WITH THEM FROM USING ETHANOL. HOWEVER THE ENGINES ON THOSE THINGS DON'T GET RAN ANYWHERE NEAR AS MUCH AS MY S-10, WHICH HAD BEEN LOOSING POWER TIL IT BARELY CRAWLED UP HILLS.A NEW FUEL FILTER AND STRAIGHT GAS IS THE CURE FOR THAT. ALL THE CRAP THAT ETHANOL PICKS UP AND LEAVES ACCUMALTES IN THE BOTTOM OF YOUR GAS TANK WILL CONTINUE TO CLOG YOU'RE FUEL FILTER UNLESS YOU FLUSH THE TANK. A CHORE AND A HALF TO DO YOURSELF AND COSTLY AT THE SHOP. ETHANOL IS GREAT STUFF... UNLESS YOU DRIVE ON IT...

Date reviewed: Jul 31, 2009 9:46 PM