Gas is expensive. Oil reserves are dwindling. Global warming is happening. There are just so many reasons to switch to alternative energies, it’s just crazy that we haven’t done it already.I drive a lot. No, really, a lot. I go to Santa Fe three times a week (and I can’t wait for the Rail Runner to extend it’s run up north). My car has over 90,000 miles and gets about 30 miles to the gallon on the highway. I wish it was diesel. If it was, I’d convert it in a second. But it’s not, it’s a plain, everyday, unleaded-loving machine. As a little experiment, I’ve been trying E10 as a from of alternative fuel. Ten percent ethnol, 90 percent fossil fuel. This seems a logical move, from fossils to corn. Corn is our biggest crop in America, but there are reasons to believe that the corn industry has it’s own agenda (see this post about high fructose corn syrup and follow the logic train).Politics aside, the E10 proved to ease my energy woes by very little. If everyone was using it, that would be 10 percent of the total fossil fuel consumption of America. The problem is not many people are using it. Is there a place to fill up your vechile with E10 in Albuquerque? Where? There are two pumps—that two pumps, six handles each—where you can fill up on E10, E85 and biodisel in Santa Fe, are they here, too? Using E10 may only conserve 10 percent of my total consumption, but that’s a whole lot better than zero. A little does go a long way, until I can afford a 100 mpg hybrid.
Filler Up
Corn Or Fossil?
2 min read
