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/

[Sandman]

Now, now... sit down and take a deep breath my young and concerned friends..

Ever wonder why someone tries to sneak a suitcase full of Bibles into North Korea? Or chooses to go hiking in the mountain region of Iran's border? In the opinion of a level headed thinker, Neither of these cases will have a good outcome..

Ethanol production has super big $$$ behind it.. The farmers lobby at the polls and the "K" Street Lobbyists in the halls of Congress for the producers..

So.. buy some StaBil and Seafoam.. Keep Calm and mix your fuel..

[mgrist]

So.. buy some StaBil and Seafoam.. Keep Calm and mix your fuel..

Even more costs per gallon! And my two 30 year old motorcycles hate it!

[blaze]

the algae bloom effecting drinking water in the mid west....any connection to fertilizer?

[Dave Grubb]

the algae bloom effecting drinking water in the mid west....any connection to fertilizer?

Yes sir, there is.

Studies at the National Center for Water Quality Research at Heidelberg University in Tiffin have found a direct link between farming and high levels of phosphorus in watersheds, Laura Johnson, a research scientist there, said yesterday.

“We know it’s coming from agricultural runoff. But in reality, when we think about why these farms are leaking phosphorus, that part of the story is far from clear and far from simple,” Johnson said.

Heavy rains can wash fertilizers from fields into the streams and rivers that feed lakes. Overflowing sewers, failed septic systems and runoff from lawn fertilizers also contribute to phosphorus in the watershed.

Ohio has no laws requiring farmers to limit the amount of phosphorus on their fields or that force farmers to reduce runoff. But lawmakers this past spring took a step toward tackling the algae problem when they offered farmers voluntary training before they use commercial fertilizers on their fields.

We have a lot of experience with this in PA with runoff going into the Chesapeake Bay and it is far more that simply chemical fertilizer. Most sewage treatment plants are not capable of phosphate treatment. Additional sources are malfunctioning septic systems and manure application. Most farms now have buffers along stream banks to keep animals from having stream access and to reduce runoff from fields. Liquid manure is more and more applied subsurface to avoid runoff.

While this is bad, the condition of Lake Erie is drastically better than it was 40 years ago when it was going toward a dead sea. Back in the 50's and 60's the Cuyahoga River would catch fire---which presented an interesting conundrum for the fire boats

[TxMusky]

There are also nitrates that have caused many water supplies, wells, to be declared unsafe. So many things that we depend on in our daily lives and for some reason oil production is at the top of the list. SMH

[Dave Grubb]

blaze, here is an article I hope you can view in the NYT this morning.

It is a bit tainted (enviro) but overall a reasonable discussion of the issues.

In PA we claim to have met the agricultural run off reduction goals---but I'm not convinced that is the case.

[blaze]

blaze, here is an article I hope you can view in the NYT this morning.

It is a bit tainted (enviro) but overall a reasonable discussion of the issues.

In PA we claim to have met the agricultural run off reduction goals---but I'm not convinced that is the case.

I read or heard somewhere that Scott's of one of the home fertilizer manufacturers has taken the prosperous out of their products. Nitrates are what doom the waters wells here if they are in the vicinity of wheat fields where they commonly use stinky anhydrous ammonia for nitrogen.

[TxMusky]

Now if they could make bio-fuel from sucking it up and processing it, two birds with one rock.

[Dave Grubb]

I read or heard somewhere that Scott's of one of the home fertilizer manufacturers has taken the prosperous out of their products. Nitrates are what doom the waters wells here if they are in the vicinity of wheat fields where they commonly use stinky anhydrous ammonia for nitrogen.

Nitrogen is a concern but more easily managed. Most existing sewage treatment plants which discharged into the Chesapeake Bay had some level of Nitrogen removal and it can be accomplished fairly easily---phosphate was a different issue. We have spent huge sums of money adding both nitrogen (where it did not exist) and phosphate reduction capability to all the plants discharging into the Chesapeake water shed.

The closest to us in Williamsport PA was a $10 million project.