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Would This Fuel End Elios Future?

Travelbuzz1

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This aired on 60 minutes about a fuel that is not harmful to the environment which would take out electric vehicles.
The unlikely, eccentric inventor turning inedible plant life into fuel
Marshall Medoff unveils to 60 Minutes his innovative method of turning plant life into fuel and other useful products

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/marshall-medoff-the-unlikely-eccentric-inventor-turning-inedible-plant-life-into-fuel-60-minutes/

This unlikely inventor calls himself messianic, as in the messiah. And likes to say, matter-of-factly, that he is "saving the world."

Lesley Stahl: And that's what you think?

Marshall Medoff: Yes.

Lesley Stahl: You think, "I'm saving the world."

Marshall Medoff: I don't think. I don't think, I know that.

Who says things like that? Marshall Medoff does. He's a man on a mission who decided one day that he was going stop global warming.

" What I thought was, the reason people were failing is they were trying to overcome nature instead of working with it."
 
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Made in USA

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There are several considerations when looking at this "invention". First is the cost of the power required to convert the cellulose to the other forms. Does it take low power, in which case it could be practical. The second issue is that the materials used are taken out of the plant material which could be used for compost. Farmers realized a long time ago you can't just take without putting back or the land becomes depleted.

Some of the products that were made, like the sweetener and the bio-degradable plastic are interesting and might prove useful.
No way will this replace oil though. Even if solar cells become the main electrical source in the future, we need better management of our food sources. Consider: We can convert material into energy, whether splitting the atom, burning fossil fuel, etc., but we do not have an easy way to convert energy into matter.
 

johnsnownw

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Long answer: No

The premise of this seems to be that BEVs are only purchased for their environmental benefits. I can assure you that many Tesla owners have absolutely zero interest in lowering their carbon footprint.

Bio fuels aren't new. One of the more promising inventions is one that pulls Co2 out of the atmosphere, that can then be converted into fuel. Essentially making it carbon neutral.
 

RSchneider

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Cellulose fuel has been around a while In the ALMS, Corvette started using a mix of 85% Gasoline and 15% Cellulose Fuel (ethanol) back in 2008. It works but the issue is the same with anything that uses Ethanol. It takes twice as much as gasoline to do the same amount of work. So, your Elio will give up to 42/24 mpg. if you run it 100%. Plus you need to account for the moisture that it attracts and the different oil you have to use due to the dilution of it due to twice the amount of fuel you have to inject. Then you need an upper cylinder lubricant because it washes down the cylinder walls and accelerates the wear in an item you do not want it to have. The other issue is that with all of that fuel, it takes much longer for an engine to get warm. Thus the reason why bracket racers, sprint cars and Indycars use electric heaters to warm everything else up before they start the engine. Plus, there's the corrosion issue and why the motorsports that do not run on gasoline/diesel/electric purge the system with gasoline before they put the toy away. Then that brings up an emissions issue that will need to be addressed somehow.

The best part of what they are doing is that it has multiple uses and not just a replacement for gasoline. Thus the reason why it's been funded to the hilt. I don;t see it killing off the electric car anytime soon.I suspect that the food additive and coatings industries will be the first to benefit.

https://www.xyleco.com/end-products/
 

Maurtis

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And making plastic from plant sugars is not new, I use PLA in my 3D printer daily that is made from plant sugar. I do like the initiative and wish his company the best of luck. Sounds like he is really full of himself, but if his company can make a dent and help out the planet as well as the American economy, more power to him.

It is interesting that their "wood sugar" xylose has been commercially available since 1930 and is what the sweetener xylitol is made out of. They make it sound like it is some revolutionary product they came up with but it was first synthesized in 1881, LOL.
 
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mkiker2089

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Just to toss this out there but those who have been "green" longer than myself will remember when hydrogen was promised. I'm not sure that electric is the future but I think it is. I'm fairly certain that hydrogen and other "new" fuels are not. We might increase ethanol dependence or something else that is gas compatible though.

edit-- I forgot about propane. Anyone remember that one? It's supposed to be easy to convert any ICE to propane but somehow it just never happened. Maybe the US will go metric soon as well.
 

FC

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Unless that fuel can be at a cost competitive with what gasoline is now, I doubt it would "End Elios Future".
I suspect that fuel would actually cost more than gasoline, especially after the demand for what is used to make it goes up.

as far as mkikers2089 comment about propane.
It seems like its use is slowly going up in fleet use. One of the places I work for switched to it. Makes it a little more practical
if you own your own fueling station. They do seems to have to refuel more often. One of the mechanics say the engines warm up faster in the winter which is nice.
https://afdc.energy.gov/vehicles/propane.html
 

hawg_ryder

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Here's an interesting WIKI article about Brazil's use of ethanol fuel. Brazil has been using ethanol for 40+ years. At one point they had converted a sizable portion of their vehicle fleet to run on E100 (100% Ethanol) produced from sugar cane... Currently the country's fuel is E25 and the auto industry has responded with flex fuel cars appropriate for varying levels of ethanol... Bear in mind that they're pretty much a socialist country where the government controls fuel production, distribution etc...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanol_fuel_in_Brazil
 

Travelbuzz1

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The secrets of this fuel is not out yet, and maybe Elio can get 84 mph highway with a drop it fuel. But we all know something has to be done and even if it doesn't the other car manufactures are in the same boat as far as efficiency at the moment.
 
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