Hard to believe it has been 25 years since Pixar Animation Studios opened its doors and began changing animation forever. Pixar’s12th full-length animated feature Cars 2 is a fun, exciting 3D adventure bringing together the characters from Radiator Springs and a colorful new cast of cars, trains, boats and planes involved in international espionage. A combination buddy movie meets spy movie with a bit of romantic comedy thrown in for fun, Cars 2 is definitely a terrific movie for the whole family.
The first few minutes of the movie sets the tone with a suspenseful scene involving new character Finn McMissile (voice of Michael Cain) a British master spy trying to foil the plan of Professor Z to ruin the first-ever World Grand Prix. The race is created by former oil baron Miles Axlerod (voice of Eddie Izzard) to show off his new renewable, clean-burning energy source of the future he calls Allinol and takes racecar Lightening McQueen (voice of Owen Wilson) and his best friend tow truck Mater (voice of Larry the Cable Guy) around the globe battling villains, other racers and just surviving Mater outside of Radiator Springs.
Ethanol is the real life “Allinol” for the racing industry and varies from E-98 for drag racing, E-85 for indycar racing, and E-15 for NASCAR. Ethanol is made from grain, primarily corn, and is 200 proof, or 100 percent pure alcohol at the end of production. The ethanol is then denatured with a specific percent gasoline and a small amount of lubricant and fuel fragrance. These additions are the reason for the name different numbers, i.e. E-98 has 2% gasoline added.
Biodiesel is also an advanced biofuel being used today.Biodiesel is a renewable, clean-burning diesel replacement made from an increasingly diverse mix of resources such as agricultural oils, recycled cooking oil and animal fats, it is the only commercial-scale fuel used across the U.S. to meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s definition as an advanced biofuel.
Even though Cars 2 does not have a “green” ending, the eco-spin involving renewable energy is memorable and reminds us that our ultimate goal should be to provide clean-fuel for every vehicle in the very near future. As Cars 2 Director John Lasseter said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, “Big Oil is the ‘Uber Bad Guy’”.
Lisa Winger, I Commit To Green
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