In the U.S., the most energy dependent nation on the planet, paying $4 a gallon for gas is just the beginning. Prices may come down a bit in the next few years as high prices can translate into less demand in the short-term, but this will only temporarily give us a false sense of security. Any credible expert will tell you that the time is coming when $4 a gallon will look like a bargain, if not for us then certainly for our children.
Depressing, right? Actually, it’s not so bad when you consider the amazing technological advances and associated environmentally friendly business opportunities that are cropping up to solve these challenges in the near and extended future. With the need for environmentally friendly alternative fuels so great and solutions that utilize our current distribution infrastructure so critical, somebody stands to make a lot of money.
Ethanol Conversion Kits: A Great Business Opportunity
White Lightning, LLC is a company that has developed one of the most advanced, digital E85 conversion kits available on the market today. E85 is a blended alternative fuel approved by the U.S. Department of Energy comprising 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline. The conversion kit allows your vehicle to operate on gas or ethanol or any combination thereof, depending on what’s available to you at the time, and no adjustments are needed on the driver’s part. This incredibly affordable (just $379 retail for a 6-cylinder conversion kit) and easy-to-install kit makes your vehicle what has been termed a “flex-fuel vehicle” (FFV), smart enough to make the necessary adjustments for the currently available fuel independently and instantly. In fact, these adjustments are perpetually made in a matter of microseconds to ensure maximum fuel efficiency and smooth injection performance. As more FFVs hit the road each year, more than 1,600 E85 stations already have been established to service them, and that number is growing each day.
White Lightning, LLC is on the cutting edge of the alternative fuel revolution worldwide. After focusing much of its start-up marketing effort in Europe and Asia, the company is now targeting the U.S. market. “Gas prices are sky-rocketing throughout the U.S. and the demand for our White Lightning ethanol conversion kits is following suit,” said John Mountain, one of the company’s three co-founders. “Right now, we’re actively seeking to build a network of distributors throughout the country.” Any entrepreneur will tell you that the secret to success in business is to strike when the iron is hot, and nowhere is it hotter than in the alternative fuel industry, ethanol in particular.
Why Ethanol?
Many experts agree that the future of our energy independence rests largely with ethanol. Ethanol is a clean-burning, high octane fuel that can be produced in massive enough quantities domestically from renewable resources…and here’s the best part…indefinitely. Sounds impossible, right? It’s not.
John Mountain points to true experts like David Blume, author of the critically acclaimed book, Alcohol Can Be a Gas!, which is being touted by some as the most comprehensive and understandable book on renewable fuels to date. Blume’s assertion is that ethanol is by far the cleanest, most inexpensive, environmentally friendly and logical alternative to gasoline. He goes on to insist that the American people have been “sold a bill of goods” when it comes to where our energy must come from. Much of his website is devoted to debunking the seemingly endless myths about ethanol as one of, if not the most logical alternative fuels for the future. Mountain reinforces Blume’s charges when he states that, “The oil industry has done its part to make ethanol look bad. A lot of what is reported is not true or only partially true.” As such, a big part of his job as a co-founder of White Lightning is to educate the public about the true benefits of ethanol and its merits as a very viable and immediate solution to the pressing fuel crisis.
The company also supports its distributors in this regard. In fact, it prides itself on having the most well established and supportive training, technical support and marketing programs for its associates in the industry. “We’re smarter than any other company of this kind out there,” Mountain says. “Our marketing program, technical support for installations and our pricing program are better than our competition.”
Asked what he envisions for the company’s future, Mountain says, “Our first goal is to be number one in our industry, and we’re on the verge of becoming just that. Ultimately, we want to be the leader in technological advancement in the alternative fuel industry and that requires our diversification into other areas that show promise in the realm of alternative fuels.” The company is also researching conversion systems for bio-diesel, compressed natural gas, liquefied natural gas, hydrogen, propane and electric.
Mountain is not going to proclaim that ethanol is in itself the ultimate solution to the world’s energy challenges. “Ethanol is most definitely a big part of the answer as to how we can reduce our dependence on oil, especially foreign oil,” he says. More importantly, it’s a very practical solution right now. “We already have the station infrastructure in place to distribute ethanol,” he says. “The tough part is that most of those stations are owned by the oil companies, and they’re not too enthusiastic about putting ethanol in place of gas.” Mountain thinks it just might take a government mandate to require gas stations to offer E85 as a matter of routine.
It’s all so ironic when you know your U.S. history. As David Blume often points out, Henry Ford’s first cars were all FFVs. Government-mandated Prohibition, backed largely by gasoline magnate John D. Rockefeller, put America’s first alcohol fuel companies out of business. So, you could say an act of government once ushered alcohol-based fuel out. And many years later, after we’ve exhausted the world’s reserves of petroleum and paid the price.