Are alternative fuels coming to CT?
Wow. I made the front page of the Waterbury Republican-American again. (Thanks Mike!)
"Little energy for alternative fuel" (Rep-Am, by Michael Puffer) gives what I think is a really good overview of the state of alternative fuels in CT.
"Cheshire Town Councilman Tim White argues that alternative fuels can help America disentangle itself from the messy Middle East, provide cost relief for American motorists and even aid struggling Connecticut farmers.
If only, White contends, the state legislature would wake up and smell the biodiesel, Connecticut could begin to break the stranglehold oil has on its economy, security and just about every aspect of life. A candidate for state representative, White promises to push for tax incentives and other benefits to promote the spread of alternative fuels."
It's nice to see that the Chairman of the Legislature's Energy & Technology Committee, Steve Fontana (D-North Haven), seems to agree with me. Whether I win or lose in November, I hope our Representatives in Hartford are waking up to the plethora of benefits that could be derived from the promotion of alternative fuels.
And for anyone who is wondering about the main reason I'm so interested in alternative fuels... it's the war and our dependence on middle eastern oil.
Tim White
State Representative nominee (R-89)
Bethany, Cheshire & Prospect
TimWhite98@yahoo.com
4 comments:
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/new-cars/ethanol-10-06/overview/1006_ethanol_ov1_1.htm
Only read the headline and it is true. Ethanol is less efficient than regular gas.
For instance, if one gallon of gas can take you ten miles... then one gallon of ethanol can take you eight miles.
But if the gallon of gas costs $1.00 and the ethanol costs $0.80... from a cost perspective they are equal.
That is where Brazil is now. And that is what America should thinking.
With the retail pump price of E85 averaging $2.91 per gallon in August, according to the Oil Price Information Service, which tracks petroleum and other fuel prices, a 27 percent fuel-economy penalty means drivers would have paid an average of $3.99 for the energy equivalent of a gallon of gasoline.
anon 11:06pm... what makes up that $3.99 cost? There are several factors, such as transportation cost.
If we import e85 from Iowa, then there will be a transportation cost. But if we make the e85 in CT, we can effectively exclude much of that transportation cost.
And the $3.99 may be based on old technology. If CT gets involved in manufacturing ethanol today, we may be able to do it with cutting edge technology that is more efficient than that being used in other parts of the country... and that could either reduce the cost or improve the efficiency the e85... or other biofuels.
And what about the $60,000,000 state farm grant that just came to be? We should link that $60million to energy independence. If we did, that may also have an impact on the cost.
I don't want to say or write anything misleading here. I recognize that there are hurdles to be crossed. But I firmly believe that they are hurdles worth crossing.
When it comes to the "energy equivalent cost," Brazil has achieved it. America can get there too.
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