Green Joins Glitz at Super Bowl, Indianapolis Auto Race (January 2008)
ENERGIZING INDIANAPOLIS RACE WITH GREEN POWER
Another annual U.S. sports spectacular is the Indianapolis 500-mile (805 kilometer) auto race, where the 33 cars that qualify for the event now are powered completely by ethanol.
Terry Angstadt, president of commercial activities for the IndyCar series, said the race is in its second full season of using 100 percent fuel-grade ethanol, made from corn grown in the American Midwest. Ethanol advocates say the fuel-grade ethanol (used as a substitute for gasoline) is completely renewable and an environmentally friendly source of energy. The Indianapolis 500 is the premier event of the IndyCar racing circuit, which consists of 17 auto races held from March through September in various sites around the United States.
Angstadt told America.gov that ethanol, with a higher octane rating than the traditional gasoline used previously at the Indianapolis 500, results in better fuel mileage for the high-powered race cars that exceed speeds of 320 kilometers per hour.
Working with the Nebraska-based Ethanol Promotion and Information Counsel, IndyCar seeks to spread the word to consumers that a 650-horsepower racing vehicle can be powered on the Indianapolis speedway “efficiently and effectively” by ethanol while also providing environmental benefits, said Angstadt.
“If racing cars can be powered by ethanol,” he said, “your [200-horsepower] passenger car certainly” can be powered the same way.
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1 comment:
Mmmm.... seems that when you take into account the total energy cost of producing ethanol from corn ( including farming costs such as tilling, fertilizing, harvesting, transportation and the like ) the energy cost comes out about 5:1. In other words, it takes 5 units of ( mostly petroleum ) energy to produce one unit of corn-based ethanol energy.
That makes the Indy 500 five times more energy consumptive than in the past. I knew those good 'ol redneck boys wouldn't let us down.
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