Ethanol Free Fuel gets Reprieve

[MinnesotaEric]

Difficult to do away with ethanol gasoline given that farmers in many areas depend upon growing corn for their livelihood. Sad that they ever thought this up.

My heart bleeds for the plight of the poor family farmer. I mean how will they ever be able to maintain their multi-million dollar operations without ethanol?

 

[ultrarunner]

Not familiar with CA but here's a list of E0 stations if any are close to you. I'm sure you've probably seen this list before.
Ethanol-free gas stations in the U.S. and Canada

I keep hoping... nothing within a several hours drive one way near San Francisco... Cloverdale to the North,
Lake Nacimiento Marina to the South and Gardnerville, Nevada to the East

 

[ruffdog]

Ethanol is being used as a much safer oxygenator than the chemicals used in the past like MTBE's. Many times those fuels are demanded in high population areas to help with smog issues. Many times vehicles made for E85 actually have higher HP running E85 but will always have less fuel mileage.
Oxygenate - Wikipedia

 

[ruffdog]

You should be paying less for your ethanol blended fuels because they offer less bang for the buck. The key is to know at what price is a good deal.
Gasoline gallon equivalent - Wikipedia

 

[ruffdog]

There were issues with using MTBE's as an oxygenator in fuels for small engines also. It is not just the evil ethanol.

 

[dickfoster]

My heart bleeds for the plight of the poor family farmer. I mean how will they ever be able to maintain their multi-million dollar operations without ethanol?

We should simply stop subsidizing anything. Farm subsidies were started in the 30s to aid family farmers during the dust bowl and have never been halted. There is a heck of a difference in family subsistence farms of old compared to the mega billion dollar operations of today, they don't need subsidized. I'm convinced that ethanol is just another stupid way to use up surplus subsidized corn. It's all becomes totally absurd when you look at what they want for a box of corn flakes down at the grocery store. It's not like we really need to have all of that high fructose corn syrup in almost every bite of processed food we eat that is helping to spread type II diabetes though the population like wildfire. It's almost as stupid as paying people subsidies to grow cotton in the desert then turn around and ***** and whine about the ever growing water shortage. DUH! Truth be told I'm convinced that government likely creates idiotic problems like these just to give themselves something to do and a reason to exist. Immortality does exist in goverment programs.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

You should be paying less for your ethanol blended fuels because they offer less bang for the buck. The key is to know at what price is a good deal.
Gasoline gallon equivalent - Wikipedia

I'm more concerned about the additional wear alcohol puts on the lubricating systems as well as the moisture the alcohol sucks out of the air and into the fuel leading to fuel contamination problems.

I mean I use non-oxy fuels in my vehicles because I refuse to subsidize this boondoggle not to mention the RIN boondoggle working against traditional refinery operations!

Icahn Calls on EPA to Fix ‘Mother of All Short Squeezes’ - Bloomberg

Ethanol is bad for everybody except those making it.
The Case Against More Ethanol: It's Simply Bad for Environment by C. Ford Runge: Yale Environment 36

And then the entire auto industry is crying uncle against increased ethanol blending.
The War Against Ethanol, Finale | Automobile Magazine

 

[ruffdog]

Actually, the corn crop is quite well this year so the prices tank. Reports say local farmers are losing upwards of $.50 per bushel of corn. How much equipment can you buy if that trend continues?

 

[dfkrug]

We should simply stop subsidizing anything.

I am for that, but killing a govt program is nearly impossible.

It is now widely known that ethanol in gas (E10) increases total CO2 emissions. Using corn for fuel is
a terrible misuse of farmland, and is quite carbon-intensive. Oxygenates do help a bit with
carbon monoxide pollution, but that is not the only way to reduce true pollutants.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

Actually, the corn crop is quite well this year so the prices tank. Reports say local farmers are losing upwards of $.50 per bushel of corn. How much equipment can you buy if that trend continues?

That's why farmers gather into collectives and sell futures. Time has a value and that time pads the margin weather the underlying future is ultimately sold at a profit or a loss. This is a hedging strategy used to mediate risk of the producer while allowing a distributor to lock in fixed pricing needed to bring a product to market. Meanwhile, we have way too many corn producers producing too much corn and so the simple law of supply and demand is in place leading to a market that needs to be rebalanced redistributing more corn production into different grains.

Farmers overcrowding the market and producing product at a loss is not a reason to continue with ethanol subsidies.

Ethanol is a boondoggle.