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Hi there, all. I recognize more than a few of you! I was reading about the Milwaukee group meeting which mentioned this site, so here I am! Just looking to spread the word a little further afield.

A little story from today...
I was doing some yardwork, and cleaned my old gas mower ( I got a Ryobi reachargeable one late last season, and expect to use it 99% of the time. I want to see how it handles the spring growth before I sell off the gas mower). I fired her up- with E85- (tough since it was cold, and the mower is not 'converted' yet) and my son comes running over to me. He starts asking if I had gotten rid of the 'hybrid mower.' I had to grin.

So we started talking about the ethanol, how it comes from plants, etc. And he made the connection that using ETOH in the mower might be even better than using the electric, which is plugged in to recharge, and gets its power ultimately from coal, which he knows is not exactly clean nor CO2 neutral.

He ended by saying he'd solve the whole 'which mower to use' problem by buying me a solar panel to recharge the mower for my birthday.

Start 'em young, I say. Too bad his allowance won't cover a 30W/24v panel.

Welcome to CleanMPG!

Thanks for checking our site out. Let us know where we can improve.

BTW, how much does a 30W/24V panel cost?

Hi GoNavy:

___Welcome to this little place we now call home. I am glad you took the time to visit and personally welcome you over here. Although we are not yet fully open for business, Tom and I are making a go of it. Once we have a DBase up and have the time to spend cleaning up the bits and pieces, the place might look and feel a little more cozy instead of all the dust and cobwebs you are probably seeing around the site today. Until that time, pardon our mess ;)

___I see you are bringing up the boy to think like an environmentalist. I could not imagine him having a better roll model then yourself given you were the first person I have ever heard about trying a tank of E85 in your AH. That was pretty fringe and I am positive many more people know what E10 and E85 are because of your posts about it.

___Good Luck and we both hope to see you here on a regular basis …

___Wayne

Thanks!
Tom- I find 12v/20W panels on eBay for $150 all the time. Sometimes up to 40W for that price. Most 24v panels are designed for larger applications and start around 150W. So I need to get 2 12v in series- we're looking at ~$300+shipping? I really need to crawl through the BP plant's dumpsters over in Fredrick.

Wayne- thanks for the praise. Your meditations on ETOH got me started down this road in the 1st place. When I get my block converted to ethanol mowers I'll send you the press release! The trick is getting the feedstock to 'still up enough for a dozen mowers weekly. Nontrivial in a suburban setting.

gonavy
Junior Member;

Hi, and welcome to the Forum. :) Missed you last evening when you dropped by.

Terry

oh yes i reconize you, your waiting for the ford fusion hybrid!