I didn't think I'd see it this fast, ICE is history...

I first became aware of it last year when came across this video:



My first thoughts were yeah okay then................. However in an article in Motor Sport magazine earlier this year Pat Symonds eluded to the FIA being interested in this new technology.

The fact the FIA have now openly suggested this is the direction they are going adds more weight to it.

Essentially you can run any spark ignition internal combustion engine on it, and what comes out the back is effectively recycled into more fuel.

Of course this kind of heresy does not fit in with certain already established agenda's, and no doubt why it has not been made common public knowledge - you have to dig around to find it - but once the technology has been refined and perfected............

Not to mention the petrochemical companies already have the infrastructure to produce and refine it on a massive scale.
Most likely they are already well into research now that the cork has been popped !

 

Thanks for that link. ETH Zuerich nonetheless, whoa!

I'm fine with this. Latest and greatest technology that is expensive, exotic and needs a test bed: Sounds like F1 is perfect for this. As long as they don't become Formula E.

 

You're welcome.
And of course you know how much F1 wants road car relevance these days.................

 

Well you win on Sunday and you sell an AMG F1 Petronas Mercedes on Monday. No problemo.

 

7-day ban for Flavio_C, posting P&R.

 

IS this serious? Methanol and ethanol have been used as fuel, or a fuel additive to petrol, for decades. Indycars were burning methanol before most people on here were born. While ethanol has become political tool over the last couple of decades and a prop for the corn industry, it can be made from just about any plant matter and can be made from many grass type plants otherwise considered weeds. A lot of issues that make it unsuitable as a stand alone fuel for street cars don't' really apply to race cars with their short periods of use and high maintenance / part replacement schedule.

 

I'm aware of ethanol but this is different. And yes, if ETH Zuerich is behind it, then it is serious. The issue is (as you can see when you watch the video) that the harvest is minimal: They run their setup for a day and end up with a deciliter of fuel. OTOH this is only a proof of concept test by the university.

 

It will come to a political decision. Will we dedicate more land to produce crops for fuel rather than to produce food ?

 

Treading lightly here as I don't want another political ban. But it doesn't need to take up that much space. If we drop the corn subsidies, then you could make ethanol and methanol from grass and weeds, massively reducing the amount of energy/resources we are currently using to plant, irrigate, apply pesticides and harvest etc. Then we could actually make a truly more eco friendly fuel. That's it for now. See you in a week post ban!!

 

At least it has the high speed diffuser in the right geometry !!

 

This is an excuse spread in Europe so to justify protectionism. Plenty of land available and already in use for ethanol production in the Americas.

 

Problem: ethanol production uses huge amounts of water so conflict arises with any drought conditions --a big topic in the Midwest about 5 years ago.

 

Ethanol is merely in interum state used to ameliorate petrolium until battery power becomes 98%-ile sufficient.
It is the ICE which is becomming the dinosaur.

 

+1
Plenty of surplus food mountains sitting gathering dust in warehouses across continental Europe.

 

Depends on what is being grown that needs water. Corn in the midwest--yes. Switchgrass in the south--not so much. The best source of it for it to be ecofriendly rather than use up farmland is cellulosic biomass.

 

When 40% of the corn crop in the US is used for ethanol, can ethanol go away quietly?

 

It's not a problem in Brazil.

 

How come ethanol is an "interum" state if it has been used as fuel for 40 years?

 

Plenty of consumers for ethanol...............

 

Ethanol was not used "for a long time" 1885-1975
Then Ethanol was used to streach out the amount of gasoline we could produce -- modern era
When the ICE is no longer made--what will Ethanol be doing as a fuel ?

 

Yep. And what stops people to build greenhouse skyscrapers? Artificial light and hydroponic watering will ensure crops are essentially guaranteed to be successful and unaffected by natural forces.

 

Another technology I would liked to be developed to grow food in cities, as originally intended.

 

Please explain. Will subsidies go away? I think there are 4 different ways taxpayers are being gouged by the lack of economic benefits of ethanol as currently produced.

 

There are 7.7B people in the world.
50% of all people dring.
Supply versus demand.
You do the math.

Turn subsidies into taxes.......

We need to throw out the congress critters who tax people to subsidize the growing of crops to make ethanol, and then tax them again when they put ethanol in cars that eats up the fuel system components. One should not be turning food into fuel.