Posted on 01/03/2014 5:30:46 AM PST by thackney
Ethanol producers are panicking amid speculation that the ethanol mandate could be drastically reduced or scrapped entirely this year as the biofuel loses its allure and bipartisan allies and former friends team up against it.
December saw California Democrat Dianne Feinstein—a renewable fuel champion--coordinate efforts with Oklahoma Republican Tom Coburn to come up with a Senate bill to get rid of ethanol from the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), citing fears that corn-based fuel production mandates will harm livestock producers.
In November, Washington proposed cutting the biofuels mandate for 2014 by 16% to 15.21 billion gallons. This would be the first cut in biofuels requirements, which were ideally set to grow each year with incremental increases in renewable fuel targets laid out in a 2007 law.
For renewable fuel targets, this represents a major setback because not only is 15.21 billion gallons for 2014 much less than the originally intended 18.15 billion gallons, it is also less than this year’s mandate of 16.55 billion gallons.
Two years ago the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved the E15 blend, which contains 15% ethanol and 85% gasoline, for vehicles manufactured in 2001 or later. There has been little progress towards widespread use of E15 though, and today’s blend is commonly E10.
The problem is that the RFS set its parameters too far ahead and predictions are a tricky thing....
(Excerpt) Read more at oilprice.com ...
Huh, stopped clock and all that...
ADM and Cargil are the reason for the sugar tariffs.
Fortunately that mess finally ended two years ago.
Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC)
http://www.afdc.energy.gov/laws/law/US/399
Expired: 12/31/2011
mandating it drives the market upside down.
Yep. That is the next beast to slay.
They were trying to push E10 to E15. I have not seen any discussion for mandating E85. Most vehicles would not even start, let alone run on it.
Anything that will lower the competition for natural resources needed to make drinkable alcohol is a good thing! /s
What are you talking about, that mental giant, Austin Dillon, is doing commercials designed to look like PSA’s telling us that worries about ethanol damaging our cars is a hoax to sell additives to counter the effects of ethanol. /extreme sarc
I suppose that just makes him another male whore. He should have spent just a little more time in science class.
I will be the first to support capitalism and market freedoms, but when the federal government subsidizes this sponsorship and the industry uses people like this to propagandize the public, it is a bridge too far.
Little boy Brian it taking NASCAR down the tubes of irrelevancy. I remember hearing of Big Bill’s concerns about sending his kids to IV league schools. He should have listened to that little voice of warning.
I have a ‘91 Ford truck. I learned the hard way that it did not like ethanol. (Why didn’t they tell us?)
There are a lot of farmers looking at going under, who will not vote for the same candidate.
And I thought we were going to “Starve To Death” all the worlds poor people which would help the Environment!!
“Expect a farm crisis later this year. Corn prices have dropped, and land is heading that way.”
Too damn bad. They were making a killing during the ethanol boom.
We have a large ethanol production plant near where I live. We also have a VERY large area of potato growers. If we see the ethanol product discontinued, converting to using potato’s to produce vodka will be rather easy. The plant already uses corn as the raw material to produce the alcohol “base” for ethanol. Until the petroleum product is introduced into the ethanol stream, the product is nothing more than good ole “moon shine”. Now how good is that, we can produce alcohol out of either corn or potato’s. Life is good!
Even my 1 1/2 year old Tacoma say NO E85 on the fuel tank fill cover.
There have been companies that profited very well from the ethanol mandate. Stabil and Startron fuel stabilizer sales must be huge in comparison to a few years back.
Also, Walbro and other manufactures of small engine carburetors sales must be up tenfold in the last few years.
I know I personally bought two. It was cheaper to buy a whole new carburetor than rebuild it.
I’ve heard these too, and it was really disheartening to hear outrageous paid lies from who you would think would be a “car guy”. Anyone with dirt under their nails has seen what ethanol does. I have. Things rust and corrode.
I want to see what happens if we take one of those $500,000 fake NASCAR cars, fill it with E15, _let it sit for a month_, and then take it out for a spin on the track.
Fuel ethanol production from sweet potato - CNRS
http://www.cnrs.fr/inee/relationsinternationales/docs/ZHAO_SFseminarweb.pdf
Sweet Potato Out-Yields Corn in Ethanol Production Study
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2008/080820.htm
“Also, Walbro and other manufactures of small engine carburetors sales must be up tenfold in the last few years.
I know I personally bought two. It was cheaper to buy a whole new carburetor than rebuild it.”
Same here.
“Expect a farm crisis later this year. Corn prices have dropped, and land is heading that way.”
Interesting, the lady whom cuts my hair and my Buddy’s wife traditionally make Tamales over the Holidays. Both mentioned to me last month that Masa and Corn husks had sky rocketed in price compared to 2012. I figured due to ethanol?
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