Indycar promoting ethanol

Indy cars now using ethanol seems to be counter productive, and nothing more than promotion for the unrealistic, liberal "greenies". As ethanol produces substantially less energy per gallon than gasoline, and costs as much to refine, what is the point? It is also eating (pardon the pun) into an important foodstuff

 

Indy is farmer country. Like having milk instead of champagne.

 

Ethanol decreases corn availability for livestock feed grains... checked the price of beef lately? Increase is only partially becuase of increased oil costs, but mostly from cost of feed grain rising due to scarcity for it being used for ethanol. Love Indy? eat more salad and forget ribs, chicken and pork

 

You got that right. I have 45 horses/5 cows and my feed bill has risen substantally recently - meanwhile the cars aren't really getting better mileage - it just apeases those who believe it's making a difference. If it were making a substantial difference that would be a different story but . . . .it's not.

Carol

 

2007 was the first year for ethanol at Indy. What fuel did they use before that? Methanol, not gasoline.

 

That comes as a surprise: I didn't know that IRL was using gas!!

The Indy races I attended in the 60s, were runned with 'methanol' as fuel, not gas.
I made it a bit awkward for the British teams that came to race there (Cooper, Lotus, Lola); they were not used to handle the stuff. The whole fuel system hadv to be emptied, flushed and clean through after use. You couldn't leave methanol overnight in the tanks, the injection system, etc...
Just extra work.
Methanol (which must be akin to ethanol) burns without visible flames, which makes it difficult to put a fire out!! I have seen a mechanic running around and yelling, and people laughing at him, not realising the poor chap had in fact his clothes on fire.

I can't see safety being improved by using ethanol (and that should be the first concern), whilst 'ecologicaly' its use is also controversial.

 

have 'em run diesel..

 

Hey! It just occurred to me: The government is promoting fuels made from stuff that could make flour.

The gov is saying, .... "Let 'em burn cake".

Anyone know where we can get a guillotine?

 

Corn based ethanol is a political sham, much like the highly overstated global warming effect. By it's nature, corn based ethanol won't last. Celluloid based ethanol has more potential, but is a long way from being viable on a massive scale.

 

How dare any of you say anything against ethanol! I am an Algoreian. As a follower of Al Gore, blessed be him, he knows what is best for you, me, and the Earth. If he says that we should burn corn instead of oil, then that is the correct thing to do. Any who disagree with him is a witch and should be burn at the stake.



12 cylinders using oil or walk

 

Why sit in a box like NASCAR? They just switched from leaded gasoline to unleaded in March or so of 2007.

ALMS: Intersport Racing to use new cellulosic E85 race fuel

2-22-2008

While consumer E85 is a blend of grain ethanol and gasoline, cellulosic ethanol goes a step further in terms of conservation. It is produced from biomass such as wood waste, switchgrass or citrus.

http://www.americanlemans.com/News/Article.aspx?ID=3931

http://www.americanlemans.com/News/NewsImages/2222008115051937_Image1_Thumb.GIF

Jon Field passing sand-bagging P2 LMP2 competitors and Audi R10s in Utah:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLv7hlMr-4Q

Threat of sponsors pulling out if no action taken

says Stéphane Lemeret

http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http://www.endurance-info.com/article.php?sid=4664

http://fiagt.com/driverinfo.php?drivername=Stephane+Lemeret

 

NASCAR didn't switch to unleaded fuel until the guys working in the shops rebuilding heads showed abnormal high lead levels in their blood. Regrinding old heads by hand, sucking up lead deposited from the leaded fuel. They went unleaded to try to avoid future lawsuits. Fact.

I appreciate your links as always, but what sponsors would pull out, and why?

 

AH! You've discovered the subtle art of brainwashing by marketing. Say something over and over again and soon it becomes reality. It's not important what is "right or wrong" -- "good or bad". What's important is who gets the buck in their pocket. Logic has nothing to do with it.

 

Ethanol is not the solution, if we continue to think it is we are delaying an actual solution.

 

What is or isn't a "solution" all depends on what the "problem" at hand really is.

We hear that the "environment" is good. That fuel prices are up. But mostly, we hear government bureaucrats telling us that the public having cars (and personal mobility) is the cause of all problems.

When the people taking government money to "solve problems" (such as keeping the roads paved) start by presuming that the "problem" is whatever can be blamed on the public, ...


Now if you think of a "solution" to the issue of keeping lobbyists happy, and evaluate ethanol from that perspective, ...

---
"Somebody on our side, ... isn't.

 

I believe that Indy did away with gasoline after the year where Dave MacDonald and Eddie Sachs were killed in the horrible fires after a crash in turn 4. They said they went to methanol because it was less explosive. Even though alcohol burns with a far less visible flame it can easily be put out with water instead of having to use chemical extingushers.

 

I just asked Stéphane Lemeret

http://www.stephanelemeret.net/

 

For what it's worth, it is certainly not "liberal greenies" who are promoting ethanol.

 

My email with Stéphane Lemeret:

Hello,

I read an interview of you from endurance-info.com. You mentioned how sponsors would pull out of racing if actions about renewable fuels are not taken. Which sponsors have already pulled out of motorsport?

---

His reply:

Pilot (pens) is the biggest example.

But I didn’t say that sponsors are pulling out but that new sponsors are not coming because of this problem. I’ve already received this answer 3 times, from big companies like Godiva (Belgian chocolates).

 

I see. Got to be green marketing sells. Trojan horses to save the planet.