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Ethanol Part II - Our E85 road test
By now you've been subjected to the blitz of billboards and TV commercials. "We could have cleaner air and an energy source that grows back every year," promises a General Motors ad promoting E85, a fuel made of 85 percent corn ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. "It's a critical issue facing our planet and facing the world," the ad says. In the effort to find clean alternative sources of energy, consumers have been led to believe they can "go green" by fueling up on corn. "Join the movement," GM urges. "Go to livegreengoyellow.com. The U.S. Senate apparently agrees. It voted to increase U.S. ethanol production to 36 billion gallons per year by 2022. The House did not pass the same increase, but the mandate could still make its way into the energy bill Congress gives to the President. And you may not realize it, but in Minnesota, all gasoline already contains 10 percent ethanol, and that number could soon go up. "We recently passed, signed into law, a requirement that (the ethanol content) go up to 20 percent in the next few years," Governor Pawlenty said this summer. Before that happens, tests have to be done to ensure standard car engines can handle that high of a concentration of ethanol. On top of that, Pawlenty said, Minnesota leads the nation in using and producing E85. But outside of corn country, KARE11 found not many drivers are asking about ethanol. "It either says that there's not a good demand for (E85), and it's not very popular, or people just don't want it," said Matt Steigerwald, manager of a Shell station in Lake Delton, Wisconsin. Maybe there's good reason drivers aren't demanding ethanol. Performance is an issue. Even with a 10-percent blend of ethanol, a car's mileage will drop two or three percent. A Congressional Research Service backgrounder on ethanol says 10 percent ethanol blend drops your mileage 2-3 percent. (Link: Report, reference on page CRS-6) KARE 11 took a road test to find out if ethanol really is a practical alternative to gas. We drove a flex-fuel Dodge Durango, one of about six million vehicles on the road today specially designed to run on either E85 or gasoline, and started with a full tank of pure E85. We drove until the tank was empty. Using E85, we drove a total of 351.4 miles. The Durango's tank held 28 gallons. That means our fuel efficiency with E85 was 12.55 miles per gallon. After the tank had been drained, we re-filled at a gas station in Wisconsin, where the regular unleaded contained no ethanol. We drove back to Minnesota, and with no ethanol in the tank, the car felt the same on the road. But the difference in miles per gallon was huge. With gas containing no ethanol, we averaged about 20.41 miles per gallon. In other words, with E85 in the car, our mileage was 39 percent worse. The result actually was worse than we expected. Consumer Reports magazine conducted a similar road test and found mileage was 27 percent worse with E85. (Article The Ethanol Myth) Either way, the money you save at the pump does not offset the difference in mileage. At the time of our road test, E85 cost 19 percent less than gas. So with E85, you have to spend more money to drive the same distance. Governor Pawlenty, a champion of ethanol, has acknowledged its shortcomings. He calls corn ethanol the "Model T" of renewable energy. "We're going to have to find other sources, and it's coming," Pawlenty told reporters this summer, after he made renewable fuels the focus of his efforts as president of the National Governors Association. Pawlenty said there are easier ways to use less oil. "I strongly support increased fuel efficiency standards for our cars in the United States," he said. But until Congress mandates more efficient cars, economists and environmentalists wonder why there's so much focus on corn. "The issue is, can we make it better?" said David Tilman, a University of Minnesota ecologist and distinguished McKnight Professor. Tilman is studying native prairie plants. He discovered a mix of native grasses and weeds can produce twice as much energy as corn, and they're better for the environment when they're turned into ethanol. "The way we make ethanol right now gives us a tiny greenhouse gas benefit," he said. "About a 15 percent reduction compared to gasoline. If we make it properly, we can get a 100 percent reduction compared to gasoline." Native grasses are carbon negative, meaning they take carbon dioxide out of the air as they grow. And they grow, without any chemical help, on infertile land that's not suitable for farming. (Link: Tilman study of prairie grass carbon-negative biofuels) "You can grow prairie perennials by planting them one time and mowing them once a year," Tilman said. "It takes a trivial amount of energy compared to that to grow corn, which has the fertilizer, and the pesticides, and the tractor planting and harvesting, and tilling, and everything else that goes on." But the conversion of corn into ethanol has been pushed along by billions of dollars in government subsidies. The technology for converting grass is lagging about five years behind. (Link: Minnesota House of Representatives research on ethanol) "Corn ethanol is the way we have to go right now, because that's where our technology is, and that's what we're good at," said corn farmer Dan Erickson, a member of the Minnesota Corn Growers Association. In the meantime, ethanol has been linked to higher corn prices, and in turn, higher prices for dairy products and food. "Clearly a situation where we're using food to make fuel is not the only solution for the future," Pawlenty said. Ethanol's supporters say we had to start somewhere. Even Don Brown, a former truck driver who calls himself the "E85 Man" and spends his retirement promoting ethanol, said he'd rather use no fuel at all. "No," he said, "this is only the first step. We gotta take the first step." What is a better way to reduce our oil consumption? "Electrics!" Brown said, snapping his fingers. "I would buy an electric car in a minute." Then he paused and said, "If I could."
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