Ethanol - A new battle brewing?

[houstonscott]

LOL! Great dig. But I am not sure how I can be pigeon holed in to a spokesman for ethanol. I made it quite clear I can live with it or without it. I only concern myself with cost per mile of operating my stuff.

If that's true you don't want government anywhere near your fuels. Most of the cost of operating "your stuff" is government regulation. HS

 

[TomSeller]

I offer that ethanol would not be a fuel additive if not mandated by the federal government.

Agree. If it were any good as a primary fuel it would be on its own merit. It's farmer's welfare at the tax payer's expense.

 

[Copperhead]

Yep, I am not interested in the government anywhere near the fuel I use. Butane, ethanol, or any of a dozen different things that get regulated into fuel. Government did nothing regarding an ethanol mandate prior to the late 80's / early 90's, and it did just fine. Many folks bought E10 willingly. I buy E15 now because it offers the lowest cost per mile for me to use, and there is no government mandate for E15. Sometimes E85 offers me the best value when the price spreads are better, and it doesn't have a government mandate either. I buy E15, E20, E30, or E85 freely based on pricing spreads and the fuel mileage I get from each fuel. When gasoline was higher a couple of years ago, my pickup got E85 for over 6 months.

Another reason I don't want government anywhere near my fuel. I pay more if fuel tax alone each year than many people pay in income and social security tax in a year. I pay nearly $11,000 a year just in fuel tax.

I realize that some don't put a lot of thought into what they put in their tank. If they did, many with flex fuel vehicles would figure out what gives them the best bang for the buck and probably buy higher blends of ethanol. Most of the folks that have a fit with ethanol are not most of the people out in the real world. Long before E10 was mandated for use in some areas, folks were buying E10 willingly because of the lower cost. E10 or any other blend, or any government mandate regarding ethanol doesn't even generate a blip on the radar of normal day to day discussions among most folks.

But it still remains... why would I want to use a non ethanol fuel that costs me 15.7 cents a mile to use when I can get E15 that costs me 13.1 cents a mile to use? That would be stupid. I don't have an irrational paranoia that would cause me to pay more per mile to operate my vehicle. Just one of those folks that does not suffer from an enlarged paranoia gland. So for some of us, ethanol is a very viable primary fuel and not just a novelty. If the price spreads were right, and the government did not mandate that ethanol be denatured with gasoline, I would use 100% ethanol. If the price spreads were such that ethanol free gas offered the best value, then I would use that. No bias one way or the other.

 

[TomSeller]

I pay more if fuel tax alone each year than many people pay in income and social security tax in a year. I pay nearly $11,000 a year just in fuel tax.
.

OUCH !!! What on earth do you get for all that hard earned money?

 

[Copperhead]

That is from the 21,000 gallons of diesel I go thru on average each year. All part of doing business. IFTA fuel tax reports filed every 3 months.

 

[oldpilgrim]

That is from the 21,000 gallons of diesel I go thru on average each year.

for your corn fields equipment?

 

[prs]

My vehicles definitely get less mileage and have less power even on E-10 as compared to petrol only. At 40 US dollars per barrel, there is no way petrol fuel should be more expensive than any blend and we are up to our arm pits in oil right now. The only science supporting drunken fuel is Political Science.

prs

 

[DarkBlack]

That is from the 21,000 gallons of diesel I go thru on average each year. All part of doing business. IFTA fuel tax reports filed every 3 months.

Is that your usage to make 21,001 gallons of ethanol?

 

[Green Power]

Is that your usage to make 21,001 gallons of ethanol?

If you read a few of Copperheads posts he hauls parts for vehicles, SxS, etc... I am guessing he does not own a tanker or grain trailer but i could be wrong.

 

[Copperhead]

for your corn fields equipment?

Nope. Semi trucks. Farm equipment would be exempt from state fuel tax. That 21,000 gallons is all road fuel.

And yep, I pull dry boxes. No tankers or hoppers. I do haul a lot of ag products, but those that are meant for bakeries and such. Lots of oat meal and granola, Sioux Bee honey, livestock feed etc. And a lot of Kawasaki bikes, ATV's, and UTV's. And a lot of coil steel for manufacturing and a lot of stuff for Menards, both to the DC's and inter DC stuff. Even book a load once in a while with Bectin Dickinson to haul medical supply products from one of several plants to their regional distribution centers.

So those that think I have some sort of stake in the ethanol thing... that balloon just got deflated. Just because I don't hate it doesn't mean I have any stake in it. Grew up farming, live in the house I grew up in, still keep tabs with folks around me that do farm, still look out over the surrounding crop fields and step out on the deck in my drawers and fire a pistol if I have a mind to do so to scare off a coon or coyote, but not in the farming game.

When and how much ethanol I use is purely a keeping my fuel cost per mile down decision. I really could give a rip about conspiracies and government manipulation. I have too many other things to spend my time and effort on.