Ask the Car People.SM


The Inconvenient Truth About Ethanol

1067 messages,  Last post on May 04, 2013 at 2:12 PM

You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum.

What is this discussion about? Alternative Fuels

Messages Page 105 of 107

#1038 of 1067 From Mr Inconvenient Truth himself by gagrice

Nov 22, 2010 (1:06 pm)

Al Gore: Votes, not science, led me to back corn ethanol
 
Report: Al Gore Reverses View on Ethanol, Blames Politics for Previous Support

 
Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore reportedly has had a change of heart on ethanol, telling a conference on green energy in Europe that he only supported tax breaks for the alternative fuel to pander to farmers in his home state of Tennessee and the first-in-the-nation caucuses state of Iowa.
 
Speaking at a green energy business conference in Athens sponsored by Marfin Popular Bank, Gore said the lobbyists have wrongly kept alive the program he once touted.
 
"It is not a good policy to have these massive subsidies for first-generation ethanol," Reuters quoted Gore saying of the U.S. policy that is about to come up for congressional review. "First-generation ethanol I think was a mistake. The energy conversion ratios are at best very small.
 
"One of the reasons I made that mistake is that I paid particular attention to the farmers in my home state of Tennessee, and I had a certain fondness for the farmers in the state of Iowa because I was about to run for president," the wire service reported Gore saying.
 
Credits for corn ethanol subsidies expire at the end of the year unless Congress
moves to renew the $7.7 billion annual program. Opponents of the corn subsidies say that it removes valuable food products from the table because the U.S. ethanol industry drives up the price of corn.
 
Reuters reported that Gore attributed a variety of factors to the food pricing crisis that has emerged, but that biofuels
definitely have had an effect.
 
"The size, the percentage of corn particularly, which is now being (used for) first-generation ethanol definitely has an impact on food prices," he said. "The competition with food prices is real."

#1039 of 1067 Re: From Mr Inconvenient Truth himself [gagrice] by pf_flyer HOST

Nov 22, 2010 (1:38 pm)

Replying to: gagrice (Nov 22, 2010 1:06 pm)
I keep channeling Capt. Renault from the movie Casablanca more and more...
 
I'm shocked, shocked to find that politics is going on around ethanol

#1040 of 1067 Re: From Mr Inconvenient Truth himself [pf_flyer] by gagrice

Nov 22, 2010 (1:54 pm)

Replying to: pf_flyer (Nov 22, 2010 1:38 pm)
Funny thing is. He did not win his home state of TN, in his presidential bid.

#1041 of 1067 More wasted tax dollars on Ethanol subsidies by gagrice

Dec 13, 2010 (6:43 am)

More Pork for big Ag.
 
Republicans in Congress have taken giant steps forward to restore American economic vitality but, as the current tax legislation, up for a cloture vote in the Senate on Monday proves the GOP has yet to prove that they are serious about cutting spending. Nestled within the legislation that extends the Bush tax cuts for another two years is a 45 cents per gallon subsidy for ethanol, as well as a retroactive $1 per gallon credit for bio-diesel fuel. Continuing these subsidies costs taxpayers approximately $5 billion a year.
 
Budget-busting subsidies and bailouts of failing industries have been a mainstay of the Democrats in Congress over the last two years, but the tax legislation reveals that there are GOP senators who are not immune from the temptations of pork.
 
Folks familiar with Iowan Senator Charles Grassley are aware of his characterization as a deficit hawk, tough on waste, fraud and abuse, and yet, he’s the last hold-out on ethanol subsidies, an enormous source of government waste.
 
Even Al Gore has faced the inconvenient truth that ethanol “is not a good policy.” Corn-based ethanol is expensive and has dubious environmental benefits. Moreover, huge subsidies for corn-based ethanol drive up the cost of food as large amounts of U.S. farm production is diverted to make expensive fuel. Americans are then forced to buy a product that they do not want, because of government mandates for ethanol inclusion in gasoline blends. At the same time, protectionist measures prevent the importation of cheaper forms of ethanol made in Brazil, from sugar cane. These decisions, that enrich the Iowa corn industry, cost taxpayers dearly.
 
The good news is that the ethanol subsidy and the bio-diesel subsidy were due to expire at the end of this year. But, sadly, Grassley has placed parochial politics above the good of the GOP and the good of the country, and insisted that the extension be tagged on to the tax-cut legislation. So, there goes another 5 billion.
 
Ethanol waste

#1042 of 1067 Re: More wasted tax dollars on Ethanol subsidies [gagrice] by pf_flyer HOST

Dec 13, 2010 (2:51 pm)

Replying to: gagrice (Dec 13, 2010 6:43 am)
Turning food into fuel isn't a good idea. Turning ANYTHING into a less efficient fuel and still believing it somehow saves ANYTHING is downright silly

#1043 of 1067 Ethanol the big joke on US by gagrice

Dec 28, 2010 (11:20 am)

#1044 of 1067 less mpg and more $ per gallon for your 01-06 car by elias

Jan 30, 2011 (7:01 pm)

EPA Grants E15 Fuel Waiver for Model Years 2001 - 2006 Cars and Light Trucks/Agency continues review of public comments for an E15 pump label to help ensure consumers use the correct fuel
 
Release date: 01/21/2011
 
Contact Information: Cathy Milbourn milbourn.cathyepa.gov 202-564-7849 202-564-4355
 
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today waived a limitation on selling gasoline that contains more than 10 percent ethanol for model year (MY) 2001 through 2006 passenger vehicles, including cars, SUVs, and light pickup trucks. The waiver applies to fuel that contains up to 15 percent ethanol – known as E15. EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson made the decision after a review of the Department of Energy’s thorough testing and other available data on E15’s effect on emissions from MY 2001 through 2006 cars and light trucks.
 
“Recently completed testing and data analysis show that E15 does not harm emissions control equipment in newer cars and light trucks,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “Wherever sound science and the law support steps to allow more home-grown fuels in America’s vehicles, this administration takes those steps.”
 
On October 13, 2010, EPA approved a waiver allowing the use of E15 for MY 2007 and newer cars and light trucks. At that time, EPA denied a request to allow the use of E15 for MY 2000 and older vehicles and postponed its decision on the use of E15 in MY 2001 to 2006 cars and light trucks until DOE completed additional testing for those model years.
 
The Agency also announced that no waiver is being granted this year for E15 use in any motorcycles, heavy-duty vehicles, or non-road engines because current testing data does not support such a waiver.
 
These waivers represent one of a number of actions that are needed from federal, state and industry to commercialize E15 gasoline blends. Also, EPA is developing requirements to ensure that E15 is properly labeled at the gas pump. The label will be designed to prevent refueling into vehicles, engines, and equipment not currently approved for the higher ethanol blend.
 
Ethanol is an alcohol that can be mixed with gasoline to result in a cleaner-burning fuel. E15 is a blend of 15 percent ethanol and 85 percent gasoline. The primary source of ethanol is corn, but other grains or biomass sources may be used such as corn cobs, cornstalks, and switchgrass.
 
The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 mandated an increase in the overall volume of renewable fuels into the marketplace, reaching a 36 billion gallon total in 2022. Ethanol is considered a renewable fuel because it is produced from plant products or wastes and not from fossil fuels. Ethanol is blended with gasoline for use in most areas across the country.
 
EPA granted the waiver after considering the E15 petition submitted by Growth Energy and 54 ethanol manufacturers in March 2009. In April 2009, EPA sought public comment on the petition and received about 78,000 comments.
 
The petition was submitted under a Clean Air Act provision that allows EPA to waive the act’s prohibition against the sale of a significantly altered fuel if the petitioner shows that the new fuel will not cause or contribute to the failure of engine and other emission-related parts that ensure compliance with emission standards.

#1045 of 1067 More wasted tax dollars on Ethanol subsidies by gagrice

Feb 08, 2011 (1:54 pm)

Heavily subsidized Georgia ethanol plant closes

12:26 pm February 8, 2011, by Kyle Wingfield
 
A Georgia biofuels company has drawn the attention of noted corporate-welfare critic Timothy Carney in the Washington Examiner:
 
    To turn wood chips into ethanol fuel, George W. Bush’s Department of Energy in February 2007 announced a $76 million grant to Range Fuels for a cutting-edge refinery. A few months later, the refinery opened in the piney woods of Treutlen County, Ga., as the taxpayers of Georgia piled on another $6 million. In 2008, the ethanol plant was the first beneficiary of the Biorefinery Assistance Program, pocketing a loan for $80 million guaranteed by the U.S. taxpayers.
 
    Last month, the refinery closed down, having failed to squeeze even a drop of ethanol out of its pine chips.
 
    The Soperton, Ga., ethanol plant is another blemish on ethanol’s already tarnished image, but more broadly, it is cautionary tale about the elusive nature of “green jobs” and the folly of the government’s efforts at “investing” — as President Obama puts it — in new technologies.
 
$162 million down the toilet on biomass ethanol

#1046 of 1067 Re: More wasted tax dollars on Ethanol subsidies [gagrice] by texases

Feb 08, 2011 (2:07 pm)

Replying to: gagrice (Feb 08, 2011 1:54 pm)
Ugh, but I'm not surprised.
 
I hope folks are patient for 'algae ethanol'. And I'm still waiting on all the 'cellulosic ethanol'...

Messages Page 105 of 107

To POST a message, please Sign In.

Advertisement

Browse by Category

Browse by Vehicle
   View All Vehicles

Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
View All Topics

Edmunds Community

Advertisement