E85 Ethanol, Golden Opportunity???

by George W. Cannata

Will the automakers and the country as a whole take advantage of a golden opportunity, or will apathy prevail again.

I use the term E85 Ethanol metaphorically, what I'm talking about is fuel made from a renewable source.

I don't care what you call it. It happens that we already have the technology and the facilities to produce Ethanol.

Ethanol can be made from all sorts of organic material, wood chips, corn stalks, beets, saw grass and so on.

The golden opportunity for the auto industry is that America for a change is ahead of foreign competition in the development of multi-fuel vehicles and USA is the agricultural leader of the world.

This creates the opportunity for the automakers to start making vehicles that appeal to the public and reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

The President has opened the door to development of E85 and we should support him . At present there are a number of problems with the use of Ethanol, all of which are soluble.

1. Ethanol is expensive. Development and volume production will reduce the price.

2. Ethanol gets less mileage causing more frequent stops for fuel. This is a no brainer. Increase the size of the fuel tanks.

3. Not enough stations carry it. If demand is there the supply will follow.

Volume demand and production should eventually solve most if not all of the problems connected with mult-fuel vehicles.

Multi-fuel vehicles are a better solution than hybrids. They are cheaper to build. Even at present low volume they only cost $150.00 more than conventional vehicles. With volume that should drop.

They use present day technology and are far simpler, consequently less expensive to maintain and repair.

If the automakers and the government and we Americans get behind this effort we can save what's left of a decimated auto industry.

We can reduce and possibly eliminate the need for foreign oil and in the process create more jobs for America.

The Auto Industry has to make cars that Americans will buy.

The government has to provide tax breaks and subsidies to expedite development of alternative fuels.

The people have to get behind this. We should also develop our own oil resources and nuclear energy and stop listening to the extreme environmentalists that have helped to create a lot of our problems.

Eventually we are going to have to do these things anyway: fossil fuels are not going to last forever.

America once led the Automotive World. We have the brains and the wealth, now all we need is the will to do it again.

Written by: George W. Cannata author and publisher of http://www.caveatemptorus.com A web site dedicated to assisting consumers in avoiding fraud and getting the most value for their money.