<VV> Propane

[FrankCB at aol.com]

Kevin,
While I agree that butanol is probably a better fuel alternative than  
propane, it has one MAJOR disadvantage compared to propane.  I can buy  propane 
locally right NOW whereas WHERE do I buy butanol?  Propane is  already used 
not only for barbecue cooking, but also in many areas for home use  where 
natural gas is not available.  Looks like the "chicken or egg"  situation as 
far a butanol is concerned.  It won't be widely used  until there is a wide 
supply of it and there won't be a wide supply  of it until it's widely used!!
 
Frank Burkhard    
 
 
In a message dated 3/11/2011 11:44:07 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
wrokit at hotmail.com writes:

As long  as we are talking about alternative fuel sources, I thought I 
would mention  Butanol- It has a energy density very
simaliar to gasoline, is non  corrosive, burns cleaner than gasoline does, 
and, at least in efi cars, get a  little better fuel milage
than they do on gasoline. It doesnt absorb water  nearly as much as ethanol 
does, and is much less evaporative than  either
ethanol or gasoline is. Also, it can easily be made from a variety  of non 
petroleum sources, although until recently was made
strictly from  petroleum, for paint solvents. Even from petroleum, 
apparently, it can be  bought for $3.75/gal, and that is cheaper
than the $4.5/gal that I have to  pay right now for super. Butanol from 
bioderived sources disappeared in the  1950's when it
became cheaper to make it from petroleum, but in the past  few years there 
has been alot of innovation that has made
butanol much  cheaper to produce from bioderived sources than it used to. 
Yes, there are  some issues with running butanol
in a carburetor car, mostly because it is  more viscous than gasoline is, 
but this is a very simple fix compared to  switching over
to propane. 
Kevin Nash