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Gov Phasing Out Unleaded Fuel?

phatlavish

By phatlavish,
in New South Wales

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phatlavish Mentor

phatlavish

Posted
Posted

Anyone heard anything about this? found it this morning..

surely it would affect like 99% of us here as we all run 98? :D

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/petrol-costs-to-...00618-ymu9.html

MILLIONS of motorists stand to pay more at the petrol pump thanks to the state government's decision to phase out regular unleaded fuel.

It is mandating the use of E10, a blend of 90 per cent petrol and 10 per cent ethanol, as part of its commitment to promote renewable biofuels.

This is despite E10 being proved to be less efficient than regular unleaded. Although ethanol has a higher octane rating, it holds less energy than petrol.

That means anyone using E10 could use up to 3 per cent more fuel than normal premium unleaded petrol.

Besides, all cars built before 1986 are incompatible with E10; owners of those cars will have to use premium unleaded fuel with a 95 or higher octane rating.

That will affect about 100,000 motorists when unleaded petrol disappears.

The government has defended the decision, saying it is a necessary response to shrinking oil supplies. "Acting now to develop our local biofuels industry will help to make sure that we have affordable fuel supplies available in the future for all motorists," a spokesman for the Minister for Lands and Infrastructure, Tony Kelly, said.

The NRMA safety expert Jack Haley said the organisation wanted to see the same strategy implemented across Australia.

"We support biofuels generally because they reduce our dependency on foreign oil," Mr Haley said.

Octane ratings determine the grade of fuel and how efficiently it burns.

But with 91, 95 and 98 octane fuel on the market besides E10, it is confusing for many motorists. Experts say the difference between 91, 95 and 98 octane-rated fuel is about a 1 per cent improvement in power and fuel efficiency per octane rating.

E10 now has an unofficial octane rating of about 94 because fuel companies simply add ethanol to 91 unleaded.

Mr Haley warned against using the higher-quality fuel if a car is not calibrated for it.

"There are very few vehicles around that are designed for 98 octane," he said.

The government said it was considering an awareness campaign before next year's fuel switch.

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GoldZilla Grand Master

GoldZilla

Posted
Posted
id b very happy for them to phase out 98..... as long as they put e85 in its place.....

That's assuming they also help fund the infrastructure to produce and then distribute it, too!

MBS206 Grand Master

MBS206

Posted
Posted
That's assuming they also help fund the infrastructure to produce and then distribute it, too!

It has already been proven, that Australia does not have the usable land space to allow Ethanol to become a highly used replacement fuel.

America did a big swap to supporting farmers for growing crops purely for creation of Ethanol... They started to have food supply issues...

R34Liner Proficient

R34Liner

Posted
Posted
It has already been proven, that Australia does not have the usable land space to allow Ethanol to become a highly used replacement fuel.

America did a big swap to supporting farmers for growing crops purely for creation of Ethanol... They started to have food supply issues...

I dont think it would do any harm to america if it had a little food supply issues.....

FrangaR33 Mentor

FrangaR33

Posted
Posted
I dont think it would do any harm to america if it had a little food supply issues.....

+1 they have all that weight to lose anyway :P And plus if your a farmer in Asia who are you going to sell your food to, the guy down the road for $50 a ton or the big american corporation offering you $100 a ton.

On a more serious note I dont think this effect most of us, I even put 98 in the commodore I find it just plain runs better, so no loss.

MBS206 Grand Master

MBS206

Posted
Posted
I dont think it would do any harm to america if it had a little food supply issues.....

Isn't it funny, per capita Australia is actually fatter then America.

And how about this for weight loss, they just ban fuel for cars altogether. That way we can all catch public transport, walk or ride bikes.

Helping the environment and fat people... (Yes, that was sarcasm)

+1 they have all that weight to lose anyway :) And plus if your a farmer in Asia who are you going to sell your food to, the guy down the road for $50 a ton or the big american corporation offering you $100 a ton.

On a more serious note I dont think this effect most of us, I even put 98 in the commodore I find it just plain runs better, so no loss.

Right... So we're going to double the cost of living now as well?

God you people are smart...

Deano 1 Mentor

Deano 1

Posted
Posted
It has already been proven, that Australia does not have the usable land space to allow Ethanol to become a highly used replacement fuel.

America did a big swap to supporting farmers for growing crops purely for creation of Ethanol... They started to have food supply issues...

what do u mean man? Australia is a massive country with heaps of room....

or do u mean you need a special type of soil to grow the corps to make ethanol?

Kujotk Grand Master

Kujotk

Posted
Posted
It has already been proven, that Australia does not have the usable land space to allow Ethanol to become a highly used replacement fuel.

America did a big swap to supporting farmers for growing crops purely for creation of Ethanol... They started to have food supply issues...

We already use the suga cane waste to produce ethanol in our fuel today. We have enough waste product in other farming industries to support at least a larger ethanol industry than we have today. How much larger it can grow before crops are dedicated to fuel than food is anyones guess, i'd imagine that food crop sold as food would fetch a higher price than crop sold to fuel industry because the good quality crop is better to eat. The shit quality crop that we throw away anyway would cost a lot less and the waste crop would be more likely to be used as fuel...

Any cellulose bassed material can be used to make ethanol so it doesn't just have to be food crop that is used. But yes if they use the space to grow for ethanol instead of food then we might be screwed.

Guess time will tell.

Kujotk Grand Master

Kujotk

Posted
Posted

on the other hand we do have a lot of room that is useless to grow most crops in, but other types of plant materials grow there just fine, we can use these areas, we just need to find plants that can grow in these areas and still makes it viable to produce a profit for ethanol production...

DECIM8 Grand Master

DECIM8

Posted
Posted (edited)

Yeah.. BP does e10 only already I believe.. I wont miss it! also ..Caltex has mentioned it may also sell e85 at selected stations (like v power racing back awhile) which is quite interesting!

Edited by DECIM8
MBS206 Grand Master

MBS206

Posted
Posted
We already use the suga cane waste to produce ethanol in our fuel today. We have enough waste product in other farming industries to support at least a larger ethanol industry than we have today. How much larger it can grow before crops are dedicated to fuel than food is anyones guess, i'd imagine that food crop sold as food would fetch a higher price than crop sold to fuel industry because the good quality crop is better to eat. The shit quality crop that we throw away anyway would cost a lot less and the waste crop would be more likely to be used as fuel...

Any cellulose bassed material can be used to make ethanol so it doesn't just have to be food crop that is used. But yes if they use the space to grow for ethanol instead of food then we might be screwed.

Guess time will tell.

Do some reading on how much land mass is required to support australias demand for ethanol if we used e85 etc as our main fuel.

Think about how little we use already and how much waste crop it is costing to produce...

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