Relative Value Of Mandated Corn Ethanol

[wacojoe]

"U.S. legislation in 2007 mandated that a growing quantity of 'renewable' biofuels be mixed with gasoline—9 billion gallons in 2008, climbing to 36 billion gallons by 2022. Last year the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, responsible for implementing the law, demanded fuel companies mix in 14 billion gallons of corn-based ethanol and 2.75 billion gallons of so-called advanced biofuels, which are usually manufactured using scrap wood or corn husks."
http://www.businessweek.com/articles...slation-passes

Downsides—
❀ Incentivize farmers to take marginal land into corn production increasing erosion damage
❀ Mandatory ethanol production and use drives food and feed prices through the roof
❀ Harms lawnmowers and other small engines
❀ Car Manufacturers refuse to warranty against 20% ethanol fuel damage (some @15%) other than E85 certified vehicles
❀ Increased pesticide broadcast
❀ Depending on which assessment consulted, marginal whether more BTUs produced or used to bring to market
❀ Corn-based ethanol requires 2,500 to 29,000 gallons of fresh water per million Btu of energy – compared to at most 6.0 gallons of fresh or brackish water per million Btu of energy produced via fracking
❀ Has increased marine-life killing algae blooms in Gulf Of Mexico from nitrogen fertilizer runoff
❀ Across its life cycle, ethanol production and use releases more carbon dioxide per gallon than gasoline (if you care about that sort of thing)
❀ Artificially increases consumer cost of blended fuel


Upsides—
√ Increases farmer income
√ Increases wholesale ethanol manufacturer revenue (think Archer Daniels Midland)
√ Increases politicians' vote totals in farm states

http://townhall.com/columnists/pauld...hanol-n1863752

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/secret...--finance.html

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethan..._United_States

[Dave Grubb]

I'm with you on this one

[FredK]

Sure it's a failure and now to change the law. The way it should be done.

[wacojoe]

First, and most important action, would be to somehow kill the Iowa primary date being first up, and achieving grotesquely outsized importance. Corn farmers have waaay too much influence on the process by effectively demanding politicians sign up for this crap and buy their votes with our misery.

[Dave Grubb]

You are skirting excommunication from the "party" counselor

This will never do

Besides--where else could Michele Bachmann conjure up a win while showing off with a corn dog

[wacojoe]

Add two more downsides (rather large ones!) to my list —
❀ Increased poverty of millions worldwide due to increased food prices
❀ Additional deaths and disability of millions worldwide as death and disease are related to poverty and access to food

http://joannenova.com.au/2011/06/kil...s-est-in-2010/

[dmd]

It also harms bees because of the lack of diversity of food supplies. This also has an impact on butterflies that rely on weeds
such as milk weed that used to grow on the marginal land that was not used for farming.

[TxMusky]

ANybody remember the MTBE fiasco?

[mgrist]

ANybody remember the MTBE fiasco?

Yea, what's the current standing I wonder? I don't think that stuff went away did it? It had a astronomical half life, I think.
Just looked, the sun can degrade it when it's a gas but when in water it sticks to certain molecules and settles to the bottom of said body of water. "When it water it stays a long time!" It can cause liver and kidney cancer depending on exposure times or consumption amounts.

[TxMusky]

Yep and it was mandated to be used in fuel. Govt and politicians should concentrate on the Constitution and not making themselves and their buddies rich.

[wacojoe]

The EPA has announced rules to decrease the required volume of ethanol in the nation's fuel mix. It is unclear if the thinking there is based on an understanding of the foolishness of the rule in the first place or merely that current volume requirements of ethanol into lower overall fuel consumption would necessarily make a mix too high in ethanol for many cars and service stations to use. Read the article for abetter explanation —

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/...t-for-gasoline