Moller finds water improves ethanol performance

Moller International, the company that's been working more than twenty years on vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (surely you've heard of the SkyCar?) says it gets better performance out of ethanol when it's blended with water.

Today, Moller said it successfully tested its own Rotapower® rotary engine using a fuel composed of 70% ethanol and 30% water and found it had a number of "remarkable advantages," including:

• Improved fuel consumption through the use of a higher compression ratio possible with the fuel’s high octane rating
• Significantly increased engine power through the fuel’s cooling effect on the incoming fuel/air charge
• Reduced fire hazard since it is nearly incombustible outside the engine
• Reduced emissions to well below the Super Ultra Low Emissions Vehicle (SULEV) standard set by the California Air Resources Board

According to the company, its Rotapower engine "can achieve nearly emissions-free performance while producing nearly two horsepower for every pound of engine weight."

Your mileage, of course, may vary.

The Rotapower engine has been specifically design for the company’s M200E and M200G "volantors," which the company anticipates will enter the market in 2008.

We hope the company makes its date, but I remember Moller promising its flying car was right around the corner when I was just a wee lad reading about it in Popular Mechanics.

And by the gray in my hair, and general lack thereof, that was a long time ago.