Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

The Ethanol Debacle
Canada Free Press ^ | 9--13-13 | Alan Caruba

Posted on 09/13/2013 1:49:26 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic

click here to read article


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-46 next last
To: afraidfortherepublic

his nation wasted when it passed a law in 2007

- - - - - -

The ethanol mandate started in 2005.

ENERGY POLICY ACT OF 2005
TITLE XV—ETHANOL AND MOTOR FUELS
Subtitle A—General Provisions
SEC. 1501. RENEWABLE CONTENT OF GASOLINE
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-109publ58/pdf/PLAW-109publ58.pdf


21 posted on 09/13/2013 5:09:12 AM PDT by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: afraidfortherepublic
I think that the Ethanol Lobby is really trying to push for the 15% standard with a new, to me, commercial "Mr Slick and Dummy". For me, with a diesel vehicle, it is amusing but given the fact that most car companies seem to say that the 15% is an engine killer for older cars and bad long-term for even the newer ones, this seems to be really odious propaganda aimed at the lower info voter!
22 posted on 09/13/2013 5:09:12 AM PDT by SES1066 (To expect courteous government is insanity!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: afraidfortherepublic

All ethanol does is drive gasoline prices higher, create more pollution when you burn it, and drive mileage down.


23 posted on 09/13/2013 5:10:44 AM PDT by Jack Hydrazine (IÂ’m not a Republican, I'm a Conservative! Pubbies haven't been conservative since before T.R.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SES1066
the 15% is an engine killer for older cars and bad long-term for even the newer ones

Exactly what are you claiming the alcohol does internally to "kill" an engine?

24 posted on 09/13/2013 5:13:36 AM PDT by ROCKLOBSTER (Celebrate "Republicans Freed the Slaves Month")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: djf

From the stuff I read, the bottleneck isn’t the availability of oil.

It’s the refineries.

- - - - - - -

Even with the shutdowns, we refine more fuel in the US than we use ourselves.

We refine about twice as much crude oil as we produce ourselves. We import nearly the same amount of crude oil as we produce domestically.

Refinery Utilization and Capacity
http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/pet_pnp_unc_dcu_nus_m.htm

Crude Oil Production
http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/pet_crd_crpdn_adc_mbblpd_m.htm

U.S. Imports by Country of Origin, Crude Oil
http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/pet_move_impcus_a2_nus_epc0_im0_mbblpd_m.htm


25 posted on 09/13/2013 5:15:05 AM PDT by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: sphinx
Farmers expect the national average yield to exceed 200 bushels an acre in the relatively near term (10-15 years), and nobody in the bidness will raise much of an eyebrow if you project 300 bushels an acre in another generation.

It wasn't than long ago that 125 bushel corn was considered exceptional

26 posted on 09/13/2013 5:15:34 AM PDT by redgolum ("God is dead" -- Nietzsche. "Nietzsche is dead" -- God.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: thackney
we refine more fuel in the US than we use ourselves.

It costs too much at the pump!

We need a glut of unleaded gasoline, and no "boutique blends".

27 posted on 09/13/2013 5:20:59 AM PDT by ROCKLOBSTER (Celebrate "Republicans Freed the Slaves Month")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: spokeshave
Native American Indians to build refinery in North Dakota.

Reservations have been poor places for a long time. But, by treaty and tradition, they are exempt from a lot of state laws. Hence, some of them have built gambling casinos with varying degrees of success.

The EPA makes it very difficult to build and operate a refinery. This plan makes me suspect that the EPA has less authority in the reservations. If it takes place, I look for it to be widely copied for refineries and other types of industry as well.

28 posted on 09/13/2013 5:41:12 AM PDT by Pearls Before Swine
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: redgolum

Exactly. I’m not a farmer but I do have occasion to rub shoulders with farmers from time to time. The technologies in the field today are amazing, and the stuff in the pipeline is even better. NCGA runs an annual yield contest with competition in several categories. Last year, most of the national winners were over 300 bushels an acre. That was in the face of the worst drought in decades. That much yield potential is already in the plant, and both the genetics and the agronomics are improving rapidly. I’m a layman in such matters, but it’s fun to watch.

A lot of Americans are at a Little House on the Prairie level of understanding of agriculture. Charles Ingalls never imagined field maps capturing soil conditions across multiple variables (moisture, organic content, chemical content) on a ten square meter scale, with seed and fertilizer variable rated across the field. All of this is GPS controlled. The next evolution may be planters capable of planting four or five varieties in the same field: the optimum variety, optimum plant density and planting pattern for each soil type, with chemicals applied with almost surgical precision. And that’s all independent of better genetics, which is also advancing rapidly.


29 posted on 09/13/2013 6:17:42 AM PDT by sphinx
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: ROCKLOBSTER
Exactly what are you claiming the alcohol does internally to "kill" an engine?

When the auto manufacturers themselves go to the effort to issue warning stickers and owner manual guidance to not use E15 (Ethanol 15%) on the pain of voided warranties (Toyota), I presume that they might know their own engines. This is from AAA on this subject; "The auto industry, though, says E-15 -- as the blend is known -- corrodes pumps, fuel lines and injectors. And manufacturers say they won't cover damages caused by the higher blend."

As for older vehicles, designed and built to non-ethanol standards, the alcohol concentration is a known deteriorating factor for the fuel systems. Perhaps it is excessive to say that E15 is a killer but I would not want the expense of parts replacements!

30 posted on 09/13/2013 6:17:59 AM PDT by SES1066 (To expect courteous government is insanity!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: afraidfortherepublic

Ethanol and biofuel mandates have the economic effect of firmly tying the price of grain crops used for food (or used to feed animals used for food) to the world price of energy. This is a grave mistake because future price gyrations in either food or energy would cause markets to react in ways that might substantially change food supplies.

But more important, the entire idea that we must consume food crops as a substitute for oil is just silly and wrong. Why not convert coal to motor vehicle fuel instead of converting field corn? It defies logic.


31 posted on 09/13/2013 6:40:28 AM PDT by theBuckwheat
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ROCKLOBSTER
It costs too much at the pump!

Mostly because of the cost of the crude oil going into the refinery.

What we pay for in a gallon of:


32 posted on 09/13/2013 6:54:40 AM PDT by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: sphinx
A buddy of mine works for a big equipment maker that likes green paint. The next generation of planters will be almost all automated, and GPS driven.

I have seen some of the stuff, and it makes a Tomahawk missile look simple.

33 posted on 09/13/2013 6:58:35 AM PDT by redgolum ("God is dead" -- Nietzsche. "Nietzsche is dead" -- God.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: IamConservative; Venturer
I've heard of older tractor and car engines with rubber gas lines failing, but not the engine itself.

Ethanol has less power behind it and therefore makes your engine work harder to get the same power as straight gasoline.

I had a Durango that was capable of using E-85 and although putting E-85 was MUCH cheaper (back then), the actual costs were usually MORE expensive to use E-85. Because I would get about 1/3 less miles per gallon with E-85 than I got with regular gasoline. Also, when running E-85, my temperature was higher, my A/C was warmer and the truck just ran crappy (like when you used to put unleaded gas in a car designed for leaded gas - it ran, but it ran like crap)!

So, in the long haul, it does cost more due to overheating, wear/tear, shorter life-expectancy and just general damage.
34 posted on 09/13/2013 7:15:50 AM PDT by ExTxMarine (PRAYER: It's the only HOPE for real CHANGE in America!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: ExTxMarine

The central government mandating the blending of ethanol is lousy as a matter of policy, just as is their mandate of any other product. But ethanol doesn’t not burn hotter than gasoline. If you engine was running hotter, your timing was off.


35 posted on 09/13/2013 7:20:36 AM PDT by Mr. Lucky
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]

To: Mr. Lucky
If you engine was running hotter, your timing was off.

Well, then my timing slipped ONLY when I used E-85 and went back to operating normally when I introduced regular gas back into the tank.

Maybe that is something that the industry should look into - E-85 causing timing slippage.
36 posted on 09/13/2013 7:26:20 AM PDT by ExTxMarine (PRAYER: It's the only HOPE for real CHANGE in America!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: ExTxMarine
Timing, when running on ethanol, should be advanced.
37 posted on 09/13/2013 7:27:56 AM PDT by Mr. Lucky
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 36 | View Replies]

To: Venturer
The Ethanol hasn’t seemed to harm my car, but it tore the hell out of my boat , and my jet ski, despite my having spent a fortune on products that fight it.

Yep, and snowmobiles, chainsaw, weedwhacker, mini-tiller, etc.

38 posted on 09/13/2013 7:30:37 AM PDT by Travis T. OJustice (I'm not a gynecologist, but I'll take a look.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: SES1066

My ‘95 Nissan Maxima had to have all its fuel injectors replaced after 3 years. The mechanic told me they were corroded by ethanol use. I still drive it today with the replacement injectors and it runs like a dream. And I haven’t used ethanol since they were replaced.


39 posted on 09/13/2013 7:34:13 AM PDT by Straight8
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: afraidfortherepublic

There is/was an Alcohol/ethanol group on Yahoo which contained a lot of useful information for individuals wanting to produce their own fuel but whoa be to anyone who pointed out the inefficiencies (which an open debate might address) or to mention FOX news.

It was exactly like posting some anti-communist message on the DU.

Instant deletion of your post should you defend FOX or point out that without political interference ethanol is not the way to go at this point in time as it is not economically viable without political distortion of the energy and costs required to produce it..

If however, they can come up with an enzyme to allow the use of Kudzu, they would have a twofer.


40 posted on 09/13/2013 7:49:07 AM PDT by Wurlitzer (Nothing says "ignorance" like Islam! 969)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-46 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson