FXSTD – Alternative Energy Center

By: Vidar Lura
You probably don't know it, but the answer to World's gasoline addiction could be under the hood of your car. More than five million Tauruses, Explorers, Stratuses, Suburbans, and other vehicles are already equipped with engines that can run on an energy source that costs less than gasoline, produces almost none of the emissions that cause global warming.

Filling up on ethanol isn't new. Henry Ford's Model T ran on it. What's changing is the cost of distilling ethanol and the advantages it brings over rival fuels. Energy visionaries like to dream about hydrogen as the ultimate replacement for fossil fuels, but switching to it would mean a trillion-dollar upheaval—for new production and distribution systems, new fuel stations, and new cars. Not so with ethanol—today's gas stations can handle the most common mixture of E85, with minimal retrofitting. It takes about 20% more ethanol than gasoline to drive a mile. Ethanol has already transformed one major economy: In Brazil nearly 50% of new cars can burn either ethanol or gasoline, whichever happens to be cheaper at the pump, and the nation has weaned itself off imported oil.

And have you heard about AutoFFV? Abcesso Technology has launched for the first time outside Brazil their latest Flex Fuel converter system for most injection vehicles. When installed it makes the normal gasoline car behave and perform as a Flex Fuel Vehicle. The system is totally AUTOMATIC, there is no fuel selection switch, and the management system recognizes the "lambda probe" signal and automatically adjusts to whichever fuel is being used in any proportion.

What is E85?

E85 is the term for motor fuel blends of 85 percent ethanol and just 15 percent gasoline. E85 is an alternative fuel as defined by the U.S. Department of Energy. Besides its superior performance characteristics, ethanol burns cleaner than gasoline; it is a completely renewable, domestic, environmentally friendly fuel that enhances the nation's economy and energy independence.

Today, the U. S. imports more than half of its oil and overall consumption continues to increase. By supporting ethanol production and use, U.S. drivers can help reverse that trend. 85% ethanol can reduce pollution. Government tests have shown that E85 vehicles reduce harmful hydrocarbon and benzene emissions when compared to vehicles running on gasoline. E85 can also reduce carbon dioxide (CO2), a harmful greenhouse gas and a major contributor to global warming.

Although CO2 is released during ethanol production and combustion, it is recaptured as a nutrient to the crops that are used in its production. Unlike fossil fuel combustion, which unlocks carbon that has been stored for millions of years, use of ethanol results in low increases to the carbon cycle.

Ethanol also degrades quickly in water and, therefore, poses much less risk to the environment than an oil or gasoline spill.