On Coast to Coast AM 7/17/08:

Alcohol-Based Fuels
Ecological biologist David Blume discussed the importance and benefits of alcohol-based fuels, and how the petroleum industry has suppressed their development. Some of the earliest cars such as the Model T were flex fuel (running on either gas or alcohol), and Henry Ford was an advocate for alcohol fuel. However, he was opposed by John D. Rockefeller who pushed for Prohibition, which stopped the manufacture of alcohol for any purpose, Blume detailed.

Cheaper than gas, alcohol is a superior fuel, as it leaves no carbon behind, engines last longer, and it can free us from foreign dependence, he noted. There are some twenty different crops that can produce alcohol, and many of them, such as sugar beets, yield more alcohol per acre than corn.

Most cars can actually run with up to 50% alcohol in their tanks, without using any kind of conversion device, Blume declared, and kits can be added to vehicles for less than $300. People can get permits to create home distilleries to brew their own alcohol fuel, which enables them to be eligible for tax credits, he said. An advocate for community organizing, Blume said in many locales residents have set up driver owned stations which offer alcohol pumps.

The Results are In
At the start of the show, C2C producer Tom Danheiser announced the results of his experiment using the Water4Gas device on his car. Before the installation, he was getting 17.99 mpg on his Mustang, and after he averaged only 16.56 mpg, demonstrating he actually got worse mileage driving with the device. Engineer Fred Gutierrez who does installations of the device, said results vary depending on the type of car, and in 7% of the cases mileage does go down, even if the engine is running cleaner.