Reduced Ethanol Blender’s Credit Headed For Senate Vote

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/201...r-senate-vote/


What say you, should the American taxpayer be on the hook to subsidize Ethanol production and sales?

$0.46 per gallon? $0.36 per gallon? Or $0.00 per gallon?


If the blender's credit is cut, Ethanol production in this country will cease.

 

No..It won't cease.. We will just make our own. Until the gov decides to fawk with that too.

 

Interesting. I've been hesitant to invest in a bigger fuel system for E85 because I'm worried that it's not here to stay.

 

that sux, the gas station down the block from me started selling e85

 

Ethanol is the fuel of the future. Soon most cars and vehicles will run on ethanol out of necessity. Fossil fuels are only going to be around for so long, There is a huge demand for an alternative fuel source and ethanol right now seems to be the front runner. The main product (corn, although other sources can be used.) is easily grown in the heartlands of the US, and now we mix in some fossil fuels, but it is possible to use very low percentages of regular gasoline in an ethanol blend. For example, many on the forum here run E-98 in their car at the track, etc.

I am not only saying this because I want to keep the E-85 in my car now, but because ceasing production now will only be bad for the long term growth and research of the fuel. It is better for the environment than normal gasoline which is a big plus. Research today says that each BTU of energy to produce a BTU of gasoline, could produce 8 BTU of ethanol. So while it takes 30% more ethanol to have the same energy output as an equal aliquot of gasoline, you are still ahead of the curve in terms of production energy. Cost effective, long term reliability, better for the environment.

If the process of manufacturing ethanol could be streamlined, and those vehicles and refinement steps could be re-designed to need less energy then it would be an ever better solution.

Read up: http://autos.yahoo.com/green_center-article_46/

 

It's not going anywhere.

 

When the consumer buys it, it will not leave. I have 5 local station in Springfield, Missouri now. We use a lot of Ethanol here and I believe it's here to stay.

 

There are only 13 E85 pumps in Alabama so far, and the closest one is 17 miles away. The rest of them are over an hour away. I'd make the conversion if they'd make more pumps available. As for now, i'm SOL.

 

It makes sense that there is more Ethanol availability in the mid-west. Its heavily subsidized and has a very short shelf life (30-60 days), therefore its difficult to distribute to a nationwide chain.

Guess I should chip in that there are about 10-15 stations in the entire state of WA with E89, its not easy to find.

Arguments that its here to stay ignore some basic principals:

1) It takes more energy to produce than it contains (net negative)
2) It uses massive quantities of water during production
3) increases food prices disproportionately due to lost product to ethanol production
4) Obviously the market will not support this product, is it in our best interest to subsidize this industry in perpetuity? (Farm lobbiests unite! Oh wait, they already have) Would this product sell if its price was reflective of its true cost? (ie: $0.20-0.30 per gallon more expensive than gasoline)

 

My closest station is 7 miles away, however I only fill up there 50% of the time. The next closest station is 26 miles away which I visit the other 50% of the time, because my local station owner at times likes to over charge by 30 cents a gallon.

17 miles is not that big of a deal unless your weekly commute is long. Just Do It. LOL

 

that 17 miles represents approximately 2 gallons of fuel. Is it worth ~$5.50 per tank and nearly 40 minutes of either your free time or billable time per tank of gas?

 

We have been having trouble trying to get more e85 pumps in socal I think we only have about 10 in all of socal but it seems that 1-2 pumps get added every year but that 's too damn slow!!!!The nearest pump to me is about 8 miles away and the next one to that one is about 50 miles so it's not convenient whatsoever at this time, unless you live in san diego county which has 3-4 pumps.

 

I think we have like 2 in all of NJ. Closest one is like a 40 min drive so not an option for me at this point.

 

I've got one pump 8 miles away and I've been running only E85 since July '08. You can do it. It is a little inconvenient, but not impossible. Would I prefer an E85 pump at every gas station? You betcha'. I'd love to be able to see an E85 station from my house just like Sarah Palin.

 

Damn I love living in MN sometimes. Land of E85