Alcohol Fuels - Current Technology!
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Alcohol is a totally renewable fuel that would go far to eliminate our current dependence on foreign petroleum producers. It would also substantially reduce the amount of pollution put into the atmosphere by petro-fuels.

USA Today, 17 May 2005, published an article by Oren Dorell on the subject of alcohol and biodiesel fuels. During an appearance at West Point, VA, on 16 May, President Bush proposed ethanol and biodiesel fuel as components of a comprehensive energy bill. He called for expanded use of fuels such as ethanol, which can be made from corn, and biodiesel, which can be made from soybeans.

There are two kinds of alcohol - ethyl alcohol (ethanol), made primarily from fruit or grains, and methyl alcohol (methanol), made from wood products. The former is preferred as a general purpose motor fuel, but race cars have used methanol, straight or blended, for over 20 years. Methanol is highly toxic and dangerous to handle, however, and contributes to air pollution. Ethanol was used as a fuel in the early 1800's, and early automobiles were originally designed to run on alcohol. Alcohol has an advantage over gasoline, as it contains oxygen - needed for combustion - and gasoline does not. It burns cleaner and keeps engines cleaner. When properly handled, it performs as well as gasoline and gives significantly higher mileage.

Henry Ford and other early auto manufacturers considered ethanol made from farm products to be "the fuel of the future." Petro fuels overtook the market not because they are superior to alcohol, but because the petroleum industry was better organized and had more aggressive marketing than did the producers of alcohol fuels. The bottom line is, every engine that today runs on gasoline is based on engines originally designed to run on alcohol. In fact, during both world wars, when petro-fuels were rationed, alcohol fuel was widely used and was, in fact, manufactured and sold by the petro-fuel producers!

For a 40 page in-depth report on alcohol fuels in the U.S. and in Europe, read The Fuel of the Future.
For a report on how to make your own ethanol fuel, read Make Your Own Fuel, which includes information on how to convert your engine.