Posted on 06/23/2012 5:12:17 AM PDT by rusty millet
Question: Do you fill your cars tank with gasoline that is part cellulosic ethanol, an environment-friendly distillate of wood chips, corn cobs, and switch grass? Let me answer for you: No, you dont. You couldnt if you wanted to. Petroleum products blended with cellulosic ethanol arent commercially available, because the technology for mass-producing cellulosic ethanol hasnt been perfected. None of which has stopped the Environmental Protection Agency from imposing hefty yearly fines on oil refiners. According to the The New York Times, in 2011 automotive fuel producers were assessed $6.8 million in penalties. That amount is expected to climb dramatically this year. Guess who ends up footing the bill for the difference?
The only reason there are "private" companies in this area is due to the massive federal and state grants available.
I have not seen the latest Farm Bill, but the prior bill was loaded with additional funding for green energy research conducted in Universities and by Federal Labs.
A few years ago I visited a major university pilot plant that was designed to produce cellulosic ethanol. It was supposed to run on crop residue, but that was found to be too complicated chemically, so they were using newspaper feedstocks.
The conversion required batch processing through a series of 10,000 gallon processing tanks over a course of 8 months.
The yield? 10 gallons of ethanol.
The point is not being made in these articles and the Fox News story about this that the consumer is paying for this typical government fiasco. The refiners will simply add the amount paid for the EPA fine to the price of gasoline, and we get stuck with what really amounts to another tax.
Thereafter they will dutifully introduce legislation to force the EPA to cease and desist from enforcing this insanity.
AND, I'm going to win the Powerball tonight...even though I have not bought a ticket!!!
It is going to happen very soon. I went to the public dump where I purchase fine mulch and rough mulch for yardwork, and was told that they were directed by the State of North Carolina to divert all much from public sales to Bio-fuel production. It is happening.
EPA has got to go away.
Can you name the FOUR branches of gov’t?
Here, let me help;
1. Executive
2. Legislative
3. Judicial
4. Regulatory
According to LibThink, you have the order wrong —
1. Executive > Regulatory (co-equal, imperial)
2. Judicial (As long as it enhances the power of Executive>Regulatory)
.
.
.
.
3. Legislative (for comedy relief)
Sure beats using corn although I dislike the whole idea of screwing up gasoline.
“...they were directed by the State of North Carolina to divert all much from public sales to Bio-fuel production. It is happening.”
At a cost of...
....subsidized by the taxpayer.
The Navy is pretty excited about biodiesel from algae, which is more cost effective than cellulosic ethanol (at about $26/gallon). They were “directed” to purchase this fuel.
(Don’t tell the EPA about the fairy dust additive to gasoline that makes it over 100 mpg.)
Do you or any FReeper know if the EPA or portions of it is self-funded like OSHA? They may need these “fines” to make budget.
If there was such a magic dust, rest assured the EPA would quickly figure out a way to either massively tax it or declare it illegal.
Better gasoline mileage is the last thing they want despite their public displays to the contrary.
is this Al Armendairz’s, of the EPA, first CRUCIFICTION???
I know this is operating as a tax, but the rationale is so outlandish, I would have thought someone would have gone to court and gotten this reversed. This is the same as requiring flying an anti-gravity machine when it doesn’t exist or pay a fine.
A fine of a few million dollars is nothing to the big oil companies so they pay the fines rather than spend millions in attorney fees to fight Big Government.
The sheer madness of all these regulatory boondoggles is frightening and dispiriting.
Are the oil companies fighting this requirement in the courts? Or have the decided that it is less costly to pay the finds than fight the communists in the EPA?
The reason for the Navy’s interest in algae bio fuel is that they can equip their ships with huge scoops and internal equipment that converts the algae into biofuel and thus the ships will have limitless range, unlike nuclear powered ships that need to be “refueled” every 5 years. That the ships will only be able to go as fast as a rowboat and not carry any weapons is irrelevant in the disarming of America age of Obomba.
Where is the MSM?
The refiners need to take this to court and nip it in the bud.
EPA: "CRUCIFY THEM!!!"
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