Food for Fuel is No Laughing Matter by Marlow Lewis
National Review Online, Planet Gore May 5, 2008 Food for Fuel Is No Laughing Matter [Marlo Lewis] Cliff May begins his NRO column, “The Hunger,” by retelling an old joke about astronomers discovering a giant meteor hurtling towards Earth and the Washington Post running a…
In a press release this week, Todd Sneller, administrator of the Nebraska Ethanol Board claimed, “if all the fuel sold in Nebraska in the past five years was E85, Nebraskans would have saved $2.6 billion.”
Mr. Sneller might want to check his math.
The pump price of E85 doesn’t account for the decreased energy content of ethanol when compared with gasoline. According to the AAA, the real price of E85 when adjusted for MPG/Btu was $2.846 – 20.7 cents more than the price of regular gasoline.
Moreover, the daily retail price data reported by AAA illustrates that the E85 MPG/Btu adjusted price has been higher than retail gasoline prices since at least August, 2007. Nebraskans are losing money at the pump and being sold a bill of goods by the Ethanol Board.
Gonna Need More Time on This One
by GasMan
18 May 2009 @ 3:44 pm
The Environmental Protection Agency announced it is extending the comment period by 60 days on a waiver application requesting an increase in the amount of ethanol blended into a gallon of gasoline to up to 15 volume percent (E15).
The original public comment period was to end on May 21, 2009, and will now end on July 20, 2009.
The current limit on the amount of ethanol that can be blended into a gallon of gasoline is at 10 volume percent ethanol (E10) for conventional (non flex-fuel) vehicles.
Growth Energy and 54 ethanol manufacturers submitted the E15 waiver application on March 6, 2009. The statutory provision calls for EPA to make a decision within 270 days of receipt, which is December 1, 2009.…
Posted in: CommentaryComments (1)
Senior Republican on Ag Committee Sees Unintended Consequences of Ethanol
by GasMan
12 May 2009 @ 9:28 am
GOODLATTE CALLS ON EPA TO STOP ETHANOL BLEND INCREASE
Washington, DC: Today Congressman Bob Goodlatte was joined by many other Members of Congress in sending a letter to President Barack Obama, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Environment Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson urging them not to approve the current request submitted to EPA to increase the ethanol blend in gasoline. Raising the ethanol blend above 10% could result in serious economic consequences that could negatively affect already struggling American consumers.
“Raising the ethanol blend requirement could decrease automobiles’ fuel economy while at the same time increasing food costs for all Americans,” said Congressman Goodlatte. “These are real consequences that must be addressed, especially given this tough economic time. Before EPA makes…
Posted in: Federal Legislation, Food or Fuel?, News, PolicyComments (2)
Montana Biodiesel Producer Owes Farmers $1.2M For Last Year’s Crop
by GasMan
24 April 2009 @ 8:26 am
Don’t make assumptions that biofuels are always good for farmers. Check out this story from AP
Associated Press — BILLINGS, MONT. — April 22, 2009 — A Montana biodiesel company, which has received more than $1.6 million in grants and loans from the state and a regional economic development corporation, owes farmers in Montana and North Dakota $1.2 million for crops grown last year.
Sustainable Systems LLC and a parent company agreed Wednesday to sign a consent agreement allowing the Montana Department of Agriculture to sell crops, seed and processed cooking oil held at several Montana locations and distribute a $113,000 surety bond to pay part of what is owed to Montana producers.
“We plan to work through this in an orderly process…
Posted in: CommentaryComments (0)
As Goes California, …
by GasMan
23 April 2009 @ 8:28 am
This is from FarmPolicy blog, sponsored by the law firm McLeod, Watkinson, and Miller
DTN writer Todd Neeley reported yesterday “The future of U.S. corn-based ethanol could hang in the balance as the California Air Resources Board prepares to consider a proposed low-carbon-fuel standard during a public hearing Thursday in Sacramento.
“For the past year ethanol industry officials have criticized the proposed regulations for penalizing corn-based ethanol for indirect-land-use changes when calculating ethanol’s carbon score, while not making the same calculations for other fuels.
“The regulation could lead the way for other states and countries to adopt similar laws that could hurt ethanol’s market.”
The DTN article stated that, “California would consider corn-based ethanol to be a greenhouse gas emissions contributor if the regulations are approved.”
The…
Posted in: CommentaryComments (0)
Newt Hits Nail on the Head
by GasMan
23 April 2009 @ 8:05 am
This has nothing to do with ethanol per se, but sums up the Administration’s energy policy (biofuels included) pretty well.
“But what I find distressing is that this Administration is opposed to looking for oil offshore, but the President bows to the Saudi King, the president is friends with Venezuela whose biggest impact on us is that they sell us a lot of oil, and I just think that there is a shallowness about how they analyze things.”
Newt Gingrich on the Today Show
Posted in: CommentaryComments (1)
Economist: Ethanol exuberance will hit fan
by GasMan
27 January 2009 @ 2:00 pm
From AgWeek
An Iowa State University agricultural economist who is famous for criticizing the ethanol fuel industry recently made his third appearance in a row at the annual North Dakota Grain Dealers convention. The entertaining economist, Dave Swenson, says he has no idea whether ethanol will be around in another 10…
Posted in: Economics, Food or Fuel?, Subsidies and MandatesComments (0)
See more articles in the archive
- Most Comments
- Most Emails
- Cognitive Ideological Dissonance on Capitol Hill
- Food for Fuel is No Laughing Matter
- “Let them burn ethanol” — Marie Antoinette
- Food or Fuel? The LA Times gets it–why not Bush and Congress?
- Debunking the energy independence myth
- New ethanol video “funny, sad, devastating” — says film critic Marlo Lewis
- The Ethanol Con
- Republicans drunk on ethanol, National Review says
- Biofueling Disorder: the security implications of biofuel policies
- Ethanol’s Unintended Consequences
- Senior Republican on Ag Committee Sees Unintended Consequences of Ethanol
2 comments - Ethanol Will Curb Farm Income Until Economy Rebounds, Economist Says
1 comments - Corn Ethanol More Harmful Than Gasoline -- ScienCentral
1 comments - Newt Hits Nail on the Head
1 comments - Gonna Need More Time on This One
1 comments
