Ethanol Subsidies

[Hauldren Collider]

[DaShi]

Mitt Romney's not so bad. He's like a republican Obama, except he's not black, so he'll lose. That and the baby eating will kill him in the general.

[Pax]

Oerdin,
I like your idea about importing sugar too use a fuel. I think the U.S. would like a fuel source that we can control. What are your thoughts on switch grass.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Why in all that is holy and worthwhile would you subsititute in with ethanol when abundant compressed natural gas is readily available and a proven fuel source for a number of existing engine types?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compressed_natural_gas

[giblets]

According to the article you posted, compressed gas takes up a lot of space

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

So do you.

[giblets]

Yes, but I'm not sure how you would replace the driver and passengers.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Why?

Is the age of midget cars that render their occupant susceptible to injury or death appealing to you?

[giblets]

Who asked for midget cars?

[Dinner]

Oerdin,
I like your idea about importing sugar too use a fuel. I think the U.S. would like a fuel source that we can control. What are your thoughts on switch grass.

It's nice because it grows wild and can produce limited amounts of ethanol; it's bad because it is not a very efficient process per acre of land so by default it would consume lots of land which could be more productively used for other crops. If the US seriously wants to be more energy independent then it needs to 1) push CAFE standards up, a lot 2) Change building codes so that it is more like Japan forcing people to build dense, energy efficient homes 3) Switch from heating oil fired power plants to nuclear 4) build light rail in all the major cities and HSR connecting the cities. Yes, we'll have to drill more, we do have more places we can drill, but we don't have enough cost efficient reserves to produce enough oil on our own so we have to surpress demand the way Japan does.

[Dinner]

Why in all that is holy and worthwhile would you subsititute in with ethanol when abundant compressed natural gas is readily available and a proven fuel source for a number of existing engine types?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compressed_natural_gas

According to the article you posted, compressed gas takes up a lot of space

Imagine a car accident, like one of thousands that happen each day, only it involves cars which both have tanks of compressed NG at a pressure of 20,000 PSI. An easily handled liquid fuel (like ethanol) starts sounding pretty good in comparison.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Who asked for midget cars?

Who asked to replace driver and passenger?

[giblets]

Who asked to replace driver and passenger?

Someone said something about humans taking a lot of space?

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Someone said something about humans taking a lot of space?

Nope. Only and specifically, you. To wit you agreed.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Imagine a car accident, like one of thousands that happen each day, only it involves cars which both have tanks of compressed NG at a pressure of 20,000 PSI. An easily handled liquid fuel (like ethanol) starts sounding pretty good in comparison.

In an effort to be civil, are you retarded?

Gasoline and/or ethanol are heavier than air, hence any vapors pool along the ground and possibly form pockets ready for detonation. Furthermore the splash of liquid and the aerosol affects ensure that things get ignited easily. Diesel likewise but is not volatile enough to form explosive /air mixtures without significant heat adds.

A worst case event considereing a rupture of a containment tank would liberate CNG and then disperses readily as the CNG is lighter than air. Even wiki recognizes this most basic and elemenatry aspect of emergency response.

Buried down in the article around the first sentence or so you can find the following:

"Compressed natural gas (CNG) is a fossil fuel substitute for gasoline (petrol), diesel, or propane/LPG. Although its combustion does produce greenhouse gases, it is a more environmentally clean alternative to those fuels, and it is much safer than other fuels in the event of a spill (natural gas is lighter than air, and disperses quickly when released). CNG may also be mixed with biogas, produced from landfills or wastewater, which doesn't increase the concentration of carbon in the atmosphere."