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There's so much mis-information out there about ethanol, anyone can prove a case for or against it. I've kept hearing how it takes more energy to produce it than what you get in return. Well, that may have been true some time ago, but the latest industry figures show a 35% to 40% gain. (and it takes energy to make gasoline too....it doesn't just evaporate out of crude: thats what refinery 'cracking' towers are for....funny we don't hear about those figures) So called 'experts' keep trying to tell us that we can't grow enough corn/soybeans to replace gas, so the technology is a dead end. Guess what: nobody ever said 'totally replace'. Its an alternative, ment to ease oil demand. Thats just what it could do, except we still want our gasoline 'fix', and won't accept anything even slightly less powerful. Many states, in order to cut demand and lower prices at the pump, are looking to increase the blend in 'standard' ethanol fuel from 10% up to 20%, or even 30%. Would they be doing that if it was a 'dead-end'? I've run my van with as much as 50% mixed, and I'm just not seeing the 'terrible' performance that I keep getting warned about: it runs just fine, and the mileage hasn't suffered. Guess I'm just luck, ya think? Sure, ethanol doesn't have the same 'bang' that gasoline does, yet, if the vehicle is set up right (and an Indi-car is the perfect example), you can get acceptable performance and mileage. The problem is, todays multi-fuel cars are still trying to have the best of both worlds, gasoline and ethanol, which means you have to have a trade-off somewhere, and you get one guess which fuel comes in second place. Here's one idea that we, as collectors and operators of old iron, may want to keep in mind when we talk about ethanol. If and when other forms of energy are developed for vehicle use, like electric, or hydrogen, or even compressed air engines (don't laugh: they've actually built one that gets approx. 350 miles on one 'charge' of air), what are WE going to use? Our old tractors will probably out last all of us, yet they still need to burn something, and if gas is on the way out, just what do you intend to use? We'd all better embrace SOME kind of fuel, even if it isn't just as powerful as gas (and there are supplements that boost the octane, so that may not be the big boogie man we make it out to be), or else our tractors really will be 'old iron', instead of a live piece of machinery. And personally, I think museums are NOT the place for our tractors. Just my .02 cents, take it or leave it.
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