Re: [T3] ethanol

[Steven Ayres <comwest@att.net>]

<x-flowed>RichardG=> I don't want the big kahuna to slap us around

Maybe it's just me, but I think that a lot of us will be making 
decisions about fuel over the next ten or fifteen years. Dino oil isn't 
getting any cheaper, and I wouldn't be surprised to see it going heavily 
out of favor, even outlawed, while our cars are still happily running us 
down the road. We all love old-car life, but sooner or later we have to 
face the fact that in its current form it's killing our planet and our 
economies. I for one am looking for practical ways to lower the impact 
without giving up cars altogether.

One thing I think this hobby (for want of a better word) can take credit 
for in terms of lower impact is widely unappreciated: by maintaining and 
driving an old car, you're taking at least one new car out of 
production. Producing a car requires a tremendous investment in energy 
and materials, so recycling existing cars is significant in terms of 
overall energy impact. Plus, we're recycling Type 3s, not Chargers, so 
our impact in terms of daily fuel-efficiency is also relatively low 
within the hobby.

I'd love to see a study comparing the total 40-year energy budgets 
related to the cars of a 'normal' consumer, who buys a new car every 
five or seven years, and one '66 Type 3.

Anyway, I expect that a lot of us may eventually be forced by law or 
economics to consider veggie oil and other alternatives, and this list 
is a good place to talk about and weigh the various options and 
technologies as they relate to our cars. Is that Type 3-related? I sure 
think so.

Steven Ayres, Prescott AZ
'66 KG1600: 30mpg!  :)  -- on premium dino!  :(

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