Drill our oil petition

[Elite Ronnie]

Originally Posted by Causedawg 83

Hybrids are expensive. But I'll agree I'd like to have one, and will definitely consider it when we buy a new car in 3-5 years.

The hybrid trucks dont work, I think you got to get a lil 2000 pound car before you can really save. My cousin has the same truck as mine but its a hybrid and I get better milage than him, haha. He must drive faster and %90 of all our miles are local roads..... and I live in east TN so your usualy going up and down hills so I dont think the batts have a chance to do anything when he's pressing down the gas peddal. Trucks too heavy I guess.

[Thornes70]

I thought the new hybrid SUVs were basically switching off cylinders when cruising? That could be the cause of the loss in mpg if it's going on/off because of hills, etc.

Just a guess on my part.

[Elite Ronnie]

no thats not what he has. He has actual batteries. I think what your talking about is called fuel flex. Those would be cool if you drove a lot of highway miles. I believe it will all work out free market is pretty good at fixn problems as long as we keep government out of it. Less government always = better

[Thornes70]

haha well, I don't exactly agree with that (I know, you must be STUNNED! ), but thanks for the info about flex...

[ZoomZoom71]

Flex Fuel vehicles are the ones that have the ability to run on E85. I think it's Dodge or Chevy that have engines that will shut off the use of 2 or 4 cylinders during low demand situations. I don't know if it shuts them off, or alternates their use. I'd think it'd probably alternate which one's don't fire, just to keep even heat distribution on the block.

[Elite Ronnie]

yup! Thats correct. My cousin dont have that he has the hybrid.

[Thornes70]

You're right, Zoom:

Flex-fuel Vehicles

One thing that I immediately noticed is:

FFVs experience no loss in performance when operating on E85. However, since a gallon of ethanol contains less energy than a gallon of gasoline, FFVs typically get about 20-30% fewer miles per gallon when fueled with E85.

However, it uses only 15% of gasoline, so it's a more than fair trade-off from what it looks like. I don't know much about ethanol, since I have NEVER seen a station that offers it (aren't there some in California?) where I live.

Still - yet another option, that is available - now.

National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition

[dmiller68]

Originally Posted by Elite Ronnie

The hybrid trucks dont work, I think you got to get a lil 2000 pound car before you can really save. My cousin has the same truck as mine but its a hybrid and I get better milage than him, haha. He must drive faster and %90 of all our miles are local roads..... and I live in east TN so your usualy going up and down hills so I dont think the batts have a chance to do anything when he's pressing down the gas peddal. Trucks too heavy I guess.

You have to change the way you drive for a Hybrid to work. I have seen plenty of data and I know a couple people with the hybrid pickups and they are getting much better gas mileage then when they had there non-hybrid. If you are carrying heavy loads a lot then I hybrid doesn't make since. I love my Ford Escape Hybrid.

[Elite Ronnie]

Originally Posted by Thornes70

You're right, Zoom:

Flex-fuel Vehicles

One thing that I immediately noticed is:



However, it uses only 15% of gasoline, so it's a more than fair trade-off from what it looks like. I don't know much about ethanol, since I have NEVER seen a station that offers it (aren't there some in California?) where I live.

Still - yet another option, that is available - now.

National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition

A lot of stations her in TN have them but all costs the same..... Well they say they contain up to 10% ethanol. But the farmers round here dont buy it cause there pissed that there cattle feed has shoot through the roof because of it. Plus because the cattle feed is high farmers are cuttn down on the # of cattle they have so the market has too many cows so the price has dropped. So there payn much more for feed and gettn much less for there beef so there seeing it rough.

[Thornes70]

...You don't suppose the higher cost of feed could be related to higher transportation costs as well? I dunno - I've only barely touched the topics of biofuel effects, although I've heard a lot (not enough to base an opinion on - just tossing out a question).

BUT IT'S ALL GOOD - I've solved our world's energy problems... All we have to do is figure out a way to turn cellulite into petroleum:

bet ya didn't see that one coming!

[Elite Ronnie]

ha ha ha . Well its well known the price of corn has gone through the roof. Its a simple supply and demand prob. A lot of corn that was going to food for cows and people alike, is now going to ethenol. So sence there is less supply to buy demand goes up. Mexico had some big rally protesting it, I guess corn to them is like flower to us, they gotta have it. They just need to learn to eat wheat bread and forget about those fatty corn chips anyway, ha ha. Its good for the farmers out west who grow corn though.

[Thornes70]

Hmmm, I thought that it was the stalk that was used, not the corn itself... I'm gonna have to research this more.

I know there is a weed in India that can be used for biofuel and grow pretty much anywhere - in any climate - and is not a food. I'm gonna try finding that info & posting it.

[Elite Ronnie]

I hope something like that would work as long as food farmers dont mow down there bean to plant the weed.

[Thornes70]

Okay, I did some research and it's actually a tree, not a weed. It's called Jatropha, and can grow in pretty much any climate. It's ideal for farmers who have cropland that has gone bad (I'm not a farmer so I don't know Farmer-John lingo). It can also be grown over landfills (an interesting concept in itself), and isn't a competing food crop.

Here's a small tidbit I found:

The trees can grow to 20 feet tall, can thrive up to 50 years and can be harvested twice a year—as quickly as 18 months after planting, under ideal conditions. It does well in both good and poor soil and doesn’t require heavy cultivation, fertilization or irrigation.

One acre of Jatropha can yield between 600 to 1,000 gallons of oil per year, although at least two companies marketing the plant say they have varieties that yield much more.

You should read the source for that quote, it's very interesting:

University of Florida News - Jatropha tree could be a biodiesel boon for Florida farmers, UF researcher says

[ZoomZoom71]

Go Gators!

[Crash52602]

They do have some brainiacs at UF dont they?