Re: Is it safe to use ethanol/methanol as a fuel in cars?

Greetings:

Here in California, for air polution reduction,  we have 10% to 15% 
methonol mixed with unleaded gasoline at the pump. There are a number of 
production automobiles that are designed to run on both fuels or mixtures 
of both.

You can find extensive information about the operation of alternate fuels 
on the US Department of Energy (DOE) web site at:_

 http://
www.afdc.doe.gov/advanced_cgi.shtml

Also the US Argonne National Laboratory web site gives comparisons (miles 
per gallon etc.) for the same type of vehicles operated on different 
alternate fuels:
 http://www.es.anl.gov/
htmls/afvinfo.html 

A table on the web site provides information on Argonne's current 
fleet that includes Ford Taurus ethanol sedans, Dodge Intrepid methanol 
sedans, compressed natural gas Dodge Ram vans, Caravans, Ford F150 pickups, 
and F250 pickups, a propane Ford F150 pickup, and Intrepid and Taurus 
control sedans.

From the DOE web site: "1999 Taurus Specifications . The LX model ethanol 
Taurus is a mid-size sedan. It is an advanced flexible-fuel vehicle (FFV) 
and operates on either ethanol (E-85) or unleaded gasoline which can be 
combined in the tank."

Some of the problems with operation with alternate fuels are also discussed 
on the web sites. Water contamination is one issue for fuel storage.

Best regards, Your Mad Scientist
Adrian Popa