[pdqaltair]

Originally Posted by copacabana

As I said, I'm not an expert on sovents, but we're talking about fiberglass, not salt. I'll wager a lump of fiberglass in a bottle of alcohol holds up pretty well, but what do I know?

I know that sugarcane doesn't grow in the US (except southern Florida) and that corn is your best alternative. My point is that corn doesn't make cheap or viable alcohol. Alcohol in Brazil is viable because of the abundance of arable land, climate, regular rainfall and fertile soil. Before you go off spouting about the rainforests, you should know that sugarcane is grown, primarily, in the southeast of Brazil (mainly the state of São Paulo) and on land that has been used for agriculture for a LONG time. No one is cutting forest to plant sugarcane. And yes, it is a question of different horses for different courses. Every country has to look at the most viable options for producing energy. Maybe it's thermal power on volcanic vents in Iceland or biodiesel in Canada. Brazil is self-sufficient in energy partially due to the alcohol program it has. And by the way, it's not subsidized and still costs half the price of gas at the pump. I am fully in agreement that the US ethanol content is political and a waste of taxpayers' money. You'll have to find your own solution. I only made my original post to say that one shouldn't worry about 10 or 15% ethnanl in gas. It makes no real difference to your car. For decades it has been added to gas in Brazil, even before flex engines, with no consequences.

How did this suddenly get so political anyway?

And because we are all paying for it. That makes us angry.

By the way, many types of fiberglass do not do well with alcohol, not at all. Not instant failures, but serious problems after a year. Newer tank resins are OK, but pre-1990 FRP tanks generally are not.