E15 gas

[deces]

I wonder how much real gas is per gallon or liter in Russia?

[Winger Ed.]

have watched 50 or so years pass and the mileage for vehicles remains the same or in many cases less

I heard it explained as it takes 'so many' BTUs of energy to move a given amount of weight, at a given speed, for a certain distance.
It doesn't matter where that energy comes from. That's why the weaker fuels like alcohol or propane get less mileage than fuel from oil.

All the add ons we have on our modern cars, and fuel additive packages are aimed at reducing air pollution--- not improving mileage.
If they improved mileage and horse power, we'd see all that stuff on race cars and the heavy vehicles the military has.
For example: If you could get your hands on a govt issue Hummer---
it won't pass- and can't be made to pass all the emissions tests to drive it on the street with the GI engine.
But they run great.

[45DUDE]

You can take a new rubber gas hose and run gas through it and remove and 3 days later it will be stiff. I have a complete new fuel system on one of my tractors and the gas in the clear filter will be red until it runs for a few minutes and turns white again. This happens every time I crank it. I have tried different brands of rubber line also. I also have a '95 Nissan with over 300000 miles that has the same fuel pump. It seems things with gasoline will croak if not used enough.

[MT Gianni]

Years ago we had a 2nd hand VW Rabbit that got 52 miles (measured multiple times) to the gallon of diesel. (My wife ignored the yellow dash light and warped the head on that one).

Back in the early 1970's my dad had a friend who had a Chevy Suburban that got 26 miles to the gallon. Dad challenged the validity of the gas mileage and we all went hunting one weekend - filled it to the top, wrote the start and end mileage down, refilled it to the top again and it was getting 26 miles to the Gallon.

Back in the mid 1970's I had a Chevy Impala with a 427 engine. Measured and validated numerous times - I got 27 MPG out of it (as long as I keep my foot out of the Holly 4 Barrel Carb and only used the two smaller input and not the Big 2 Barrels).

My point - We (I guess more appropriately - I) have watched 50 or so years pass and the mileage for vehicles remains the same or in many cases less (Including different class sizes) than it was "Back When". What has changed - why the federal government advocating this/that/or the other; to hell with science and measurements such as Energy units per weight (i.e. BTU's of a product); or energy loss conversions such as occurs when converting Electricity to Battery Storage and then converting to propulsion; or conversion of one energy form into another (such as hydrogen). The politicians and bureaucrats mouths are moving - don't believe any of it.

We had a 1980 Datsun 210 that got 44 mpg on the road. 10 years later when the EPA was done saving the world, new ones were advertised at 24 mpg. Not the same model but the basic entry vehicle. The cost was 50% more also.

[farmbif]

where did the EPA get its mandate from? I think it was Nixon. I remember when I was much younger I had an uncle who said he worked for nasa while actually it turns out, we found out after he died, he worked for the DOD and CIA figuring out nuclear ballistic missile trajectories to hit places like Moscow and peking ,. he made boatloads of money and bought a country retreat, several mountains, a whole bunch of acres of forest in upstate New York and he had our family come out for a camping vacation on fourth of July and we found out all the lakes and streams there didn't have any fish. they had all died from acid rain. well it turns out acid rain is caused by the stuff that came out of everyones exhaust pipes about this time the air pollution in major cities was very real bad problem and it was Nixon who decided to do something about it after the first Earth Day and created the EPA to try and figure that stuff out. or so ive been lead to believe. if you go back and learn the history of ethanol its a crazy story it could have put Rockefeller out of business if it wasn't for the federal alcohol tax and gets put in our gas tanks now days as a giant corporate socialism program created by lobbyists that persuaded bush to sign it into law that it has to be mixed with gasoline.

[jonp]

I heard it explained as it takes 'so many' BTUs of energy to move a given amount of weight, at a given speed, for a certain distance.

You may be confusing horsepower with BTU's although what you are saying is correct although the calculation requires more steps.

Horsepower is a mechanical unit of power or work and is defined a couple of ways but the most common is the power required to lift or move 33,000lbs 1ft in 1 minute which is what I think your referencing.

BTU or British Thermal Unit is an measurement of the heat or energy content of fuel defined as the energy required to raise 1lb of liquid 1 degree F.

Horsepower can be measured in BTU's or Watts ( electrical 746 Watts, heat 2545 BTU's) but it's only done in specific applications, I think?

Horsepower: H = W(V/234)² where W=weight and V=velocity
BTU: BTU = W x Delta T x Specific Heat where W = weight and Delta T is change in Temp.

Anyone feel free to chime in on this as I'm doing it from memory of physic and chemistry classes years ago.

[firefly1957]

I bought a motorhome with the Ford V-10 in 2000on pure 87 octane it did 12.7 MPG 10% ethanol drops it to about 10.5 MPG . In 2012 I drove it across the country I accidently got E-15 in Minnesota it ran well but 7.5 MPG was the cost of that mistake ! Another mistake was out in Colorado in 2001 I put in regular (85 octane for altitude) that also got me only 7.5 MPG . The alcohol has caused the fuel line to the generator to rust out so I replaced that three years ago . With Covid and everything I have driven it under 200 miles since!

[BLAHUT]

Ethanol can have it's place. However, the mandate that for fuel use it has to come from corn only is pretty stupid. I did research in the mid 1970's and it showed that ethanol could be easily made from grain dust. Grain dust is created at all grain elevators every time that grain is loaded, unloaded or moved within the elevator. Larger elevators collect the dust and store it separately in a distinct bin or bins. When they offload grain to a flour mill or other customer they meter in a certain amount of grain dust - after all they did pay for it. The end customer then has to re-clean the grain prior to use. In any case, grain dust is composed of pretty much the same components as the grain it came from, with only a slightly higher ash content. For making alcohol it doesn't need to be ground. If grain dust was utilized to make alcohol there would be some potential cost savings in processing as well as utilizing what is now considered a nuisance product. The "residue" left after alcohol production is considered as "distillers spent grains" and sold as animal feed, which could still apply using grain dust. Rant off...

This used corn can still be used as human food. Why is it not ??? Money???

[jonp]

This used corn can still be used as human food. Why is it not ??? Money???

I don't think it can? Grow food, drill for fuel

[Froogal]

This used corn can still be used as human food. Why is it not ??? Money???

It is used as feed for cattle, which is turned into beef, which is consumed by humans.