[dirtboy]

How much of that is subsidized? You're still paying for it.

The primary subsidy for ethanol is actually a tax break - ethanol is not taxed at the same rate as gasoline - because without the tax break, ethanol wasn't competive (it might be marginally competive at current prices). In addition, the corn feedstock receives federal subsidies, thereby increasing the supply and driving the price down.

[Fee]

E85 is not competitive because there is no demand for it and it is not mass produced. But using it means we can reduce gasoline demand by 85 percent in cars, trucks and etc. Unanswered question is how much energy was needed to produce E85. If the next twenty years, most cars and trucks have this alternative fuel capability (that should be mandated by government for national security reasons), we might have a growing demand for E85, then mass production will occur and the cost to produce the product drops to a point it will not need subsidies. If successful, the strategic implications are massive. The Arbs and Venezuelans will not hold us hostage. When China, and Eastern Europe starts to develop economically, their people will start to buy cars, and those cars will need gasoline. The US can become a source for them (our farmers, refineries and etc will benefit). In a time of war, this product will allow our society to function.