What can we do to make cars run on something other than oil in the U.S? (Such as ethanol?

Question

Brazil and other countries are using ethanol and pay almost a dollar per gallon. Why arent we? What can we, as the American people do, to make our cars run on ethanol? Alot of our problems would be solved if we did...

Answer 1

The USA is not Brazil. Ethanol plants run on heat recovery (replacing cooling towers) at power plants, are energy possitive. Electric cars are the best but we need to make electricty from the sun using turbins. I sent this letter to Al Gore:

Putting the technology together to start cleaning up and reintroducing new ozone to the atmosphere is possible. The cost and size of this project means taking a long term commitment. I am proposing the biggest cleanup in history. Al, I do not see any proposal that is realistic or proven at any cost, not even Washington can solve this problem. But if every person on earth does his or her share, we may be ok. Never-the-less, I see governments acting like a deer in a car’s headlights and people doing the same thing. The inevitable is almost upon us. Cleanup and change is the only option.
The first cleanup machine starts with a ten billion dollars investment. Ten year later with twenty-five machines operating, these machines will produce enough ozone to replace both holes at the poles. But more importantly, these machines will remove chemicals that deplete the ozone. Beyond making ozone, decreasing the poisons that deplete ozone, these machines reduce the major greenhouse gases and unbelievably we can have all this for fewer than one hundred billion dollars.
Beyond cleaning up our atmospheric mess as I am suggesting, we humans must do a better job reducing or cleaning up carbon monoxide, collecting and storing methane and ethane for fuel, burning less of everything, cleaning up our forests and using more solar insolation. Solar steam electric generators are the type of systems we need and are 90 percent efficient and near 100 percent if heat recovery is used. I believe nearly 30,000 MW are needed in the USA and Mexico over the next 30 years. This opens the door to new electric cars, new construction vital to our way of life, new bullet trains, and these industries produce new high paying jobs. From small scale solar generators on malls, to 2000 acre collector sights, these systems are viable and ready for production. The Federal Government must give up some land, money and have less regulation to help save the planet from disaster.
Al, spreading the message that we can help ourselves is a key to the development of these businesses. Washington can help: the businesses need grants, patents, land and regulations. Congress must create a pollution surcharge. From gas, coal, diesel, wood to cooling towers, from cattle, other ranches to cigarettes, from agriculture burning to airplane passengers, this surcharge can fund parts of these projects and many stationary pollution control devices in general.
Your personal support is very important to getting the atmosphere cleanup started and developing sights for solar generators.

Sincerely,

Answer 2

Several problems. Corn can at best cover 20% of the fuel due to growing limitations of land and if we use that much corn, what are you going to eat, and the ethanol will end up costing more than the gasoline. We are already seeing the impact on the market.

People point to Brazil. Couple of facts there. Pay can be as low as $100 per month. Therefore gas is very expensive at $1 per gallon. Second, the rainforest is being cut to plant the farms for ethanol.

Answer 3

One problem with ethanol though, is that it cannot provide fuel for the entire country. There is not enough land to grow the amount of corn it would take to produce that much ethanol. So while it may be worthwhile for the midwest, it is simply not possible for the entire nation.

I agree with the above poster, look into the documentary "Who Killed the Electric Car," it's very good.

Answer 4

You can convert you car to use CNG (compressed natural gas).
It's not so easy to find a CNG station though... but there is one close to where I live...

Now read this excerpt about Ethanol... and read the whole article (link below)

"ITHACA, N.Y. -- Turning plants such as corn, soybeans and sunflowers into fuel uses much more energy than the resulting ethanol or biodiesel generates, according to a new Cornell University and University of California-Berkeley study."

So it doesn't seem a very good idea.

Answer 5

No tax plan for that,,yet...
I saw a Diesel Bus that ran on used cooking oil. cost per gallon? they paid the drive to remove the old oil.

Answer 6

Run the cars on bio-diesel or electricity generated using PV panels.

Answer 7

Rent the dvd 'Who Killed the Electric Car?-- the gas/oil companies is behind it, to keep them in business,making big $$,
the government is not helping us either,as they killed the electric car too,, they were energy efficient too,not like the hybrids...