• We have updated to the newest version of the forum. Please let us know if you see any issues. And, yes, we know the shoutbox is gone. We'll see about getting it back if they make a newer version.

Who killed the electric car?

Young Roids

Young Roids

Banned
YEa, I have multiple beefs with corn based ethanol. The worst thing is that it is mainly just a way for farmers to raise corn prices wich raises the price on pretty much all food at the grocery store. And secondly the amount of fuel burned to proccess the corn into ethanol is high so it really doesn't help the environment more than oil. If we want to make fuel from plants there are better plants that should be used like some stuff that grows in lakes(I don't know the specifice plant) that is being researched by a professor at augsburg.
 
S

spek1098

Guest
Young Roids said:
The tesla looks like a major step in the right direction. It is insane how much the oil companies have us by the balls right now. Did anyone see the truck protest in multiple cities today? THe truckers really can't make money with $4+ diesel prices. And don't get me started on that E85 trash, that in itself is a conspiracy.
Click to expand...
If they can't make money, then either they need to raise their prices, or find new work. I don't see why they can't make money. How else is everything going move around? Trains are limited to where they can go. Maybe $4 diesel will help entice someone to develop a hybrid semi that gets much better mileage and entices semi drives to drive more conservatively and not idle there engines while sleeping.

And the subsidization of the corn-based ethanol industry, and the protectionistic $1 per gallon tariff we put on imported ethanol, are just more examples of how government should not be in the business of singling out individual industries and technologies with incentives. It should help with research and development of new ideas, and then let the market place workout which one will be the best. We could go on to the farm industry subsidization, which is a conspiracy, one that’s perpetuated by the need to be reelected. But that’s for another thread.
 
dmention7

dmention7

Hater
I have mixed view on ethanol. On the one hand, it makes me happy to see an alternative--any alternative--to petroleum gaining traction as a mainstream fuel. But on the other hand, the way it's being implemented as a virtual subsidy for corn farmers makes me worried about the backlash that will eventually happen, and it's potential impact on other alternative fuel sources.
 
Bartron8000

Bartron8000

New Member
So I watch this movie over the weekend, and I was really impressed. I can understand why the auto manufactures were scared to produce a car like that back then, but I really don't know why they worked so hard to destroy it. I find it funny that Tesla is coming out with an all electric sports car thats going to sell, and they are going to make money off of it.

I also agree partially with Young Roids on ethanol. It really is going to mess with food prices, and it does take a lot of energy to process. But ethanol as an alternative isn't a bad idea, we are just using the wrong ethanol. Sugarcane ethanol is a much better fuel, as it doesn't destroy the top soil as much and it is less corrosive. I do think that we need to move to diesels. I've read numerous articles on how people simply change the fuel filter and filter vegetable oil and just pour it into the tank and the car runs absolutely fine. I also find it incredibly funny that a diesel Golf in Europe gets almost double the MPG then a Prius, and it emits less CO2 then a Prius. Thats my 2 cents.
 
dmention7

dmention7

Hater
Well, the holy grail of fuel ethanol would be an efficient and economic system for producing cellulosic ethanol--that is, ethanol that is derived from practically any plant matter. Biodiesel still has the edge in that the mass production is already feasible, but ethanol has the edge in that current gasoline engine technology can easily be applied to burn ethanol and/or ethanol blends.

I mean... when it really comes down to it, petroleum is a biofuel. But the difference is that instead of being able to grow and refine the fuel in a single crop cycle (as with ethanol and biodiesel), petroleum takes millions of years to produce. All of these so-called "alternative fuels" are really just investigating ways to reduce the time it takes to produce a given volume of fuel by a million-fold or so, such that we can produce fuel as fast as we consume it. When you look at it from that perspective, modern biofuels seem a lot less exotic.
 
Last edited:
Young Roids

Young Roids

Banned
Bartron8000 said:
I also find it incredibly funny that a diesel Golf in Europe gets almost double the MPG then a Prius, and it emits less CO2 then a Prius. Thats my 2 cents.
Click to expand...
When they finally bring the golf or one of the other ultra efficient diesels they have in europe stateside it will likley be the car that replaces my MS3.
 
dmention7

dmention7

Hater
Right, but when it comes to passenger cars, the gasoline engine enjoys virtual ubiquity in the US. So the ability to "grow" a fuel that is a direct replacement for gasoline is attractive for weaning us off of fossil fuels--both from an infrastructure and public-acceptance standpoint.
 
Z

ZoomZoom Diva

New Member
That is true for cars, but when you start adding in trucks, equipment, trains, home heating oil and all the other items biodiesel can do, let's not underestimate it... honestly I see a place for both to operate side by side.
 
S

spek1098

Guest
Yea, there are a lot of interesting things going on out there in the world of bio-fuels (I consider thinks like coal, NG, and oil to be fossil fuels, as calling them bio-fuels, although technically correct, confuses the issue). I've been hearing algae could have great possibilities as a cellulosic ethanol source.

Maybe it was said in this or another thread, but being that the extent of the effect of human sourced CO2 is minimally understood, the best thing that will come about from us weaning ourselves off oil is that we will stop supporting oppressive governments, that for the most part, entirely undermine our efforts to maintain global security. Oppression breeds radicalism, which, in turn breeds terrorism.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top