Flex Fuel Cars
Two sides to an argument.
If Congress would only pass a law mandating all new cars be flex fuel (able to burn alcohol, gasoline or some mix), then gas stations would carry ethanol and we would be free from OPEC, after all, Brazil did it.
Ethanol isn't cost effective as gasoline and government mandate isn't the answer.
I tend to agree with the second, but read both sides. And both authors wrote this at NRO, so its conservative verses conservative which makes it more interesting in my opinion.
1 comment:
Methanol (which can be made from all biomass, not just edible crops) is now significantly cheaper than gas on a $/mile basis. Methanol equivalent mileage price is about $2.75 with no incentives ($1/gallon existing market price, 1/2 the energy of gas puts it at $2, the rest is tax).
So a mandate for flex-fuel vehicles that can use methanol (methanol-capable cars can use ethanol and gas, ethanol-capable cars cannot use methanol), costing $100/car, would result in the market installing the infrastructure of biofuel pumps that's needed to move away from oil to the cleaner and now cheaper biofuels.
Ain't going to happen without a "mandate". The market usually works, but sometimes it needs a little push.
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