Where to buy E85 in Melbourne?

[Randall679]

Using ethanol as an alternative for fossil petrolium is not about octane, tuning, revs or whatever ...

It is about using a fuel that grows on trees and eats carbon emissions in the process! Ethanol is primarily made out of sugar cane, which we have in abundance ... and could have more. And our farmers make the $$$, not countries in the Persian Gulf.

It takes only 200 days from planting to harvest ... for sugar cane as well as canola for biodiesel ... as opposed to around 300 million years for fossil fuels from trees that grew back then.

And it's a lot easier and cheaper to harvest cane and distill ethnol than it is to drill for oil and refine petrol. You can also make it out of almost any carbohydrate waste ... even algae used to filter coal fired power plants.

Brazil has been doing this for something like 30 years and have virtually no dependence on imported oil. They've certainly got the bugs out of running cars on alcohol. We've even been manufacturing an Ethanol Ford Focus for export for ages ... and we can't buy one here!

I think they only put 15% petrol in the E85 mix so we won't suck it out and drink it! Metholated spirits has something added for the same reason. In the US, you can even get a license for your own ethanol still that looks like a bowser!

I ultimately think Australia can stop importing oil if we embrace ethanol and biodiesel right across the board.

[Herrod Motorsport]

Originally Posted by EDManual

why would you want that? ! I'd stay away like the plague. Bad for the environment, food prices etc etc...

How stupid, this fuel with a custom tune will make more power , we sell the V8 supercar fuel and results are as good if not better than using racing fuels that cost $16.00 per litre compared to supercar fuel at $2.50 a litre for the E85 supercar fuel.

[bobthebilda]

Originally Posted by Randall679

I ultimately think Australia can stop importing oil if we embrace ethanol and biodiesel right across the board.

Last I heard was that certain petrol companies have stated that they will be stopping supplies of ethanol blended mixes for up to 150 days, due to the qld floods.

http://www.smh.com.au/business/flood...111-19m18.html

If we based our society on the full use of ethanol blend and we have these major catastrophies limiting supply, do we just close down society until we can replensih supplies.

More importantly, the efficiency and growth of modern agirculture only exists as a direct benefit of petroleum based products, be it fuel use for trucks, or fertilisers and pesticides for the plants. Its all fine and dandy to say you can make ethanol from sugar cane, but without oil, farmers are not going to be able to grow enough sugar cane for human consumption, let alone for conversion to ethanol.

Are there some vast tracts of land that are currently not being used in australia, that are suitable for sugarcane production (ie we would have to increase ethanol production 50 times quantity wise (67 times energy density wise)). Oh we have lots of rain forests - do we cut those down. We have lots of deserts - can you grow sugarcane in deserts.

Just wikipedia ethanol in Brazil - you will see

In terms of energy equivalent, sugarcane ethanol represented 17.6% of the country's total energy consumption by the transport sector in 2008.[24]

However, in 2010, and as a result of supply concerns and high ethanol fuel prices, the government mandated a temporary 90-day blend reduction from E25 to E20 beginning February 1, 2010.[25][34]

Brazils ethanol industry is the most developed in the world, but at the moment it has only gained 17% of coverage, and is not competitive with gasoline.

We can switch over to 100% ethanol use, but instead of spending 5% of the weeky wage on fuel and 20% on food, we will be spending 20% of it on fuel, and 50% on food. Basically once oil supplies become restricted due to peak oil (even if replaced by renewables), we will suffer a huge reduction in our quality of life.

[JAYMZ]

Originally Posted by tickford2001

Hi all,

Has anyone seen E85 for sale at the pump anywhere in Melbourne?

My understanding is that there is one servo at Hoppers Crossing that has it, but im hoping to find one out the South East side somewhere...

Anyone spotted it elsewhere, or can everyone keep a look out for it

Cheers,
Dave

Isnt there the petrol station on the cnr of Bay rd & Nepean hwy ( near Southland Shopping centre) that sells this stuff.

i always see the price under $1 p/l but have not taken notice of which fuel it is as i'm trying not to get caught at those cameras at that intersection. Ha.

Could be mistaken though. Not sure.

[aussie muscle]

Originally Posted by Randall679

It is about using a fuel that grows on trees and eats carbon emissions in the process!

...and then you burn it, so you're back to square one. Ethanol has little to do with 'environmental' so much as 'peak oil'. they think we are running out of cheap petrol so this will help to stretch out our supplies.

[Randall679]

Originally Posted by aussie muscle

...and then you burn it, so you're back to square one. Ethanol has little to do with 'environmental' so much as 'peak oil'.

That's the point ... Sugar cane and other renewable fuel sources absorb more CO2 than they emit when you burn them ... so not only are you back to square one, you are probably back to square minus-5 ...

There is no such thing as cheap oil ... that is the myth ... the production process of 300 million years, the drilling, the shipping half way around the world, the refining process, the transport ... all of those things create much more emissions than growing and distilling sugar cane into ethanol in Queensland or NSW.

We will always need fossil based petrolium products ... for plastics, pharmaceuticals, etc. so we shoould stop burning it in cars with one person in them most of the time.

The oil companies are DYING to get their hands on the 10% of petrol they lost, so they will say ANYTHING about ethanol. The whole furfy about ruined engines was all oil company spin.

And if 5hit hits the fan in oil production, I'll be glad I drive a car that runs on moonshine or chip oil.

[GreenR]

To anyone wondering Hoppers Crossing is not the only pace in VIC selling E85. Caltex sell it under the name Bio E-Flex. Caltex Campbellfield sells it I know that much so I would assume others do also.

[boss351c]

no more at southland

[Spanrz]

With the flooding rains first then the Cyclone, I'd doubt E85 would be in high order.
A lot of the sugar got wiped off.

And considering what the V8SC's use during a meet (and what amount of Cane is needed to make a tank of fuel), all the reserve might need to go to them....lol