Gasoline prices

[dickg1]

I guess that an increase in prices in the northeast is due to the ethanol now being added to the gasoline. I have noticed that my normal 33 mpg has dropped to 27 mpg. That is the ethanol effect! Thank you EPA:mad:
Dick

[dgale]

I have noticed that my normal 33 mpg has dropped to 27 mpg. That is the ethanol effect! Thank you EPA:mad:
Dick

You might want to thank the corn farming lobbyists more than anyone. While you're at it, thank them for also destroying all our lawn mowers and other small engines with this stuff. I pay $5.99/gal for non-ethanol gas at our local power shop just to avoid having to put that crap in my small engines.

[sawmill]

Gas here was 2.99 the 13 of Nov. Our deer season opened on the 15 and the night before gas went back up to 3.40. Now it is going down a few cents at a time. It seem when it hits the 3.00 mark they jump it back around the 3.50 mark

[shipwright]

One of the great things about coming down to Az. for the winter is the cheap gas (by our standards). When we left home on Vancouver Island it was around $1.30 / litre. That would be about a $5.00 / gallon.

We were in England in the early fall and it was about twice that.

I guess it's all a matter of perspective.

[JPG]

One of the great things about coming down to Az. for the winter is the cheap gas (by our standards). When we left home on Vancouver Island it was around $1.30 / litre. That would be about a $5.00 / gallon.

We were in England in the early fall and it was about twice that.

I guess it's all a matter of perspective.

Location, Location, Location!;)

[skou]

I guess that an increase in prices in the northeast is due to the ethanol now being added to the gasoline. I have noticed that my normal 33 mpg has dropped to 27 mpg. That is the ethanol effect! Thank you EPA:mad:
Dick

You don't know the worst. (Or, you didn't state it.)

It costs MUCH MORE in fuel, to make gasoline additives out of our food source, than they realize in ethanol. (In other words, it takes more than a gallon of fuel, to make a gallon of alcohol.) For the few of you that don't know, "ethanol" is grain alcohol, the active ingredient in "adult" beverages.

Here we go.

Raise the corn. Takes fuel and fertilizer. (Fuel, again.)

Harvest the corn. Yep, fuel again.

Dry the corn. Who would'a thought, fuel.

Grind the corn. Guess what?

Mash the grits. (Convert the starch to sugars.) Yep, you guessed it.

Ferment the grits. Sorry, no energy required here, except pumping and moving.

Distill (boil) the fermented mash. Yep, LOTS of fuel here. Except you need to do it 3 or 4 times, to get fuel-grade ethanol.

Ship to gasoline companies. Had to say it, fuel.

The other part, we're wasting our fuel, to turn our major food source into fuel.

steve

[curiousgeorge]

You don't know the worst. (Or, you didn't state it.)

It costs MUCH MORE in fuel, to make gasoline additives out of our food source, than they realize in ethanol. (In other words, it takes more than a gallon of fuel, to make a gallon of alcohol.) For the few of you that don't know, "ethanol" is grain alcohol, the active ingredient in "adult" beverages.

Here we go.

Raise the corn. Takes fuel and fertilizer. (Fuel, again.)

Harvest the corn. Yep, fuel again.

Dry the corn. Who would'a thought, fuel.

Grind the corn. Guess what?

Mash the grits. (Convert the starch to sugars.) Yep, you guessed it.

Ferment the grits. Sorry, no energy required here, except pumping and moving.

Distill (boil) the fermented mash. Yep, LOTS of fuel here. Except you need to do it 3 or 4 times, to get fuel-grade ethanol.

Ship to gasoline companies. Had to say it, fuel.

The other part, we're wasting our fuel, to turn our major food source into fuel.

steve

Explain this to the liberal "Tree Huggers".

[skou]

Explain this to the liberal "Tree Huggers".

It's not just the "tree huggers."

ADM, (Archer Daniels Midland) and Monsanto are also BANKING big time.

steve

[dgale]

Explain this to the liberal "Tree Huggers".

I suggest you investigate the lobbying prowess of the corn growing interests before you assume the "tree huggers" have really had much of anything to do with the increasing presence of methanol in our gas. Millions of acres of former pasture and range land have been converted to grow roundup ready corn, not as a food supply (there was already more than enough corn grown to meet world demands as a food crop) but to provide the supply for methanol in our gas. In addition to the above mentioned energy wastefullness of such an endeavor, this trend has also had a substantial impact on available habitat and migratory corridors for wildlife and migratory waterfowl that used to be able to share the range land with livestock but now have no ability or interest to use giant swaths of monocultural corn fields. I've yet to see many of the typical "tree hugger" organizations rallying behind this trend but rather it's been the same lobbying interests that have brought the bloated Farm Bill forward every 5 years. Of course like most powerful lobbying groups, they are very effective at keeping their pressure below the radar of the general public.

[WmZiggy]

Since I was trained as a theologian (I was a military chaplain for 31 years) and also taught ethics for a portion of my career at the University of Mary - Fargo Campus, I will also add to the ethanol debate that IMHO it's unethical to take food grain and turn it into fuel. When this began with corn it totally destabilized the corn market in 3rd world countries, causing increased harm to the poor. In Mexico, tortillas jumped in price. In ND it has also taken land out of producing wheat, soy beans, and other small food grains. Corn in ND is a crap-shoot given the growing season, but the formerly high price/bushel seduced many farmers. Now that the price is back down, it will be interesting to see what happens.

If you want to see how ignorant the public is on this, just ask where the energy comes from to power their cell phone. A very high percentage will say, "the battery". I fear the same is true for electric powered cars.