"Re-Cooling" my Dodge Ram with E85

It took over twenty years, but I'm finally convinced that Ethanol is the way to go in order to solve what I see as the highest priority in the USA: to become 100% self-sufficient when it comes to our energy resources. No relying on OPEC any more. No going to war in the Middle East over our national intest in liquid gold either.

More importantly, I want my truck to be "cool" again. ;)

So, I'm converting my gas-gulping 2003 Dodge 1500 RAM this week to E85. I read on several sites that the conversion process is "easy and inexpensive."  We'll see about that. I haven't done it yet, but being the total average "Joe Consumer" (or "John") , I thought y'all may appreciate an honest narrative on this process. 

So, I'll tell you what convinced me to switch over, and in time, as I learn more, and hopefully by generating some feedback and input from YOU out there in Gather-Ville,  I'll make fewer mistakes than most, and gain some current insights I wouldn't otherwise have had.

I'll also share with you the real information that isn't all the "company line." I hope you'll share with me honestly too.  

So, first, here's the first reason which convinced me to CONVERT to E-85:

I tried to sell my 14 MPG Hemi-hog Dodge Ram on the "street," then, on eBay, with plans to replace it with a gas-sipping Subaru - good for the Colorado Rockies, where we're expanding our business. Well, no buyers came CLOSE to my asking price of just $14,500 - a full $3,000 UNDER what Kelley Bluebook said was "fair."  Yikes.

So, in THIS buyer's market, I'll keep the 5.7 Liter "Hemi" Gas Hog. I swear it has a built-in sump pump in the gas tank though. I used to do the Tim the Toolman grunt when I said the word "Hemi;" now, I cringe, and whisper it when at social gatherings.  So, I need SOME WAY to return to my ego-inflating ways - what better way than to say "but it runs on E85!"  

Now that's cool.

NOT your typical rationale for changing over to E-85, but such is human nature.   THAT'S MY emotional reasoning. Now, here are the logical, rational reasons, which I'm sure most people spew out at dinner parties and such. Fact is, all decisions are emotional, but the rationale is a nice back-up.

E85 is made with corn - a renewable resource.

Ethanol is FAR LESS pollution-laden than conventional fossil fuels.

It's readily available in my area (more stations coming on-line every day)
See stations coming online here.

I made a call to my local Congressman's office in Northern Illinois - Don Manzullo.  I called to find out how the US Government was coming along on supporting flex fuels and such.  The guy I talked to (Rich Carter) tells me along with corn, "switchgrass" is coming soon, to augment corn as a source for Ethanol production.  He tells me that if demand went up, there's simply not enough corn in the ground to meet the demand, and so...the price of corn will skyrocket for BOTH consumers AND livestock farmers (who need corn feed for their pigs and cattle) if E85 demand takes off.

Oh. Bummer. So the price of pork chops and burgers will jump. Not good. Suffice it to say, some progress is being made.  Unfortunately, I'm one of those people who doesn't appreciate "some" progress. I want MAJOR progress to take place.  Now that I've made this decision to switch, that darn US Government had BETTER get off their collective derrieres and make this a priority, right? 

:) 

So, what's this switchgrass stuff?  I remember the first time I heard that word.  It was when President Bush mentioned it in a speech.  I thought it was in 2002, but Wikipedia tells me it was his State of the Union Address in 2006. Okay, fine.  I happen to be a Bush fan (for the most part), but I chuckled when I heard the President of the United States mention "switchgrass" at the White House podium.  Not very "presidential" of him. But when I heard one of the news commentators similarly chuckling - it was probably Keith Oberman from MSNBC - my smugness went away. I was a switchgrass fan, even though I had no friggin' clue what it was.  "Switchgrass." Say it enough, and pretty soon, like an awkward movie title, you start to embrace it (think Forest Gump). 

::Long Sidebar::

When I talked to my Congressman's office yesterday about this, I mentioned the idea of local County Government should hand out FREE SWITCHGRASS SEED to "real people" like you and me. Then, everyone can and should GROW SWITCHGRASS in our OWN back yards.  We can harvest it regularly and put it out with our recyclables. Probably plenty of good reasons NOT to do it-not the least of which is its fire hazard, and certainly economies of scale-but there's one great prinicpled reason TO DO it: ENGAGE THE PUBLIC IN SOLVING THE PROBLEM. Too often, REAL PEOPLE are utterly left OUT of the process of problem solving - and we wonder why the "People" are now semi-dillusional, apt to want bigger government to step in like a mom or dad, and wave a magic wand, "fixing" all of our problems?

Grrrr.

We are the ones paying the taxes, yet when we ask to get involved, we are shunned by the very leaders we elect. Wow, what a missed opportunity. IMAGINE if people did NOT participate in winning World War II through pulling together and rationing, manufacturing and volunteering our time for the war effort?

If US Citizens were ASKED to participate in not only CONSERVATION, but CREATION of energy at a home-based level, the problem of lack of fuel and electricity would simply...go away.  Personal windmills, solar panels, switchgrass...things that make you go hmmmmmmmm.

NO DEPENDENCE upon foreign oil: NO OPEC to take our money and invest it in Suni and Shiite warring factions to perpetuate what has become World War III;  NO ENRON-ESQUE centralized power base to be tempted to "shut off the switch" and derive billions of dollars in immediate profit, as they did in California.

When POWER (literally and figurtively) is distributed to the PEOPLE, and the people are empowered to determine their own future, we will TRULY become a more democratic society. It's coming...

We'll talk more about that later.

::End Sidebar::

Allllrighty then. I think I've exhausted your patience on this entry, and hell--I've got to get back to work--so feel free to chime in and comment at will!  In the meantime, I'll pop in and keep you up to date on my E85 Makeover on the Dodg-a-holic, and let you know what I'm using to do the changeover, and how it's workin' for me.

 Chow4now,

 -John