Comments on: BioPower Bits

By: swade

swade — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 21:30:52 +0000

GWC, the Saab also suffers from the mileage penalty. But the turbocharging does give the power and torque boost that a n/a engine won’t enjoy as much.

In a perfect world, the lower price of E85 should partially offset the reduced mileage. But the world ain’t perfect.

Chaaalie – the feedstock they’re promoting here is sugar cane. There is quite a decent sugar industry in Queensland (north east Aust).

By: GWC

GWC — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 21:22:59 +0000

E85 = more power in a turbocharged Saab, great. How does it impact fuel mileage? Most cars see a degredation of 20%+ when using E85. Is this the same with a turbocharged Saab?

By: Nevitz

Nevitz — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 17:14:52 +0000

I have an account with the owner center – good stuff – but have not checked that yet. But I have scoured the paper manual and nothing, no percentage or anything, just said “Recommends ethanol additives” and “Requires min AON 90″.

By: Ted Y

Ted Y — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 16:29:20 +0000

Nevitz, I don’t think any USA engines from Saab can exceed 10% ethanol which would eliminate E85 as an option. The section on Refueling should spell out the max % of alcohol. Or sign up at the Saab Owner Center and download the pdf owner’s manual and search for “ethanol” or alocohol. Much easier than the paper version.

By: Nevitz

Nevitz — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 16:00:54 +0000

Yeah, why not use compost??

I’m confused on an issue myself. In the owners manual for my new Combi, it says that Saab recommends the use of fuels that contain bioethanols, but then it says you must use a fuel rated AON 90 or greater (which is 87 octane US). But it says nothing about E85. Certainly, there are no E85 stations in FL near to me, but what alternative mixtures can I run in the 2.0T engine, if they become available. I’ve also heard that in some regions, 5-10% ethanol is added to petrol, but how do I know what my car drinks here locally?

By: chaaalie

chaaalie — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 14:04:46 +0000

Question: In Austrailia and other parts of the world, what is the “bio” stock used to produced “biofuels?”

In the US the talk is almost exclusively corn, which is starting to cause problems: Corn prices are rising. Mexico isn’t happy because tortiallias and other “cheap” corn-based staples are now not cheap; meat prices are rising as most use corn-heavy feedstocks; high fructose corn syrup is the sweetener in almost everything; apparently even “earth friendly” packing peanuts are getting expensive — as they use corn starch as a major ingredient.

There has been some talk here in Florida that we could derive Ethanol out of food byproducts like orange peels and the leaf and non-useful portions of sugar cane … that seems much more reasonable …

What do they use in other places?