Recently in Ethanol Category

As petroleum gas prices soared out of control the concept of using corn based ethanol almost started to make sense.

It was cheaper than gas and although highly subsidized with our tax dollars and getting fewer miles per gallon than gasoline, it might have been considered a substitute.

A few miles down the road from this gas station in Spring Grove, Pa., petroleum diesel was selling for seven cents cheaper than biodiesel.

J R writes greenmesh:

When looking for hybrid mileage information, ask what MPG is in Winter. My 3 year old (Toyota) Highlander gets 28-30 in Summer, but drops to 21-23 in Winter because the gas engine must run more often to provide heat for passengers. It was better the first Winter but refineries were forced to change additives and that made MPG worse.

The new federal mileage stickers (in effect after this vehicle was purchased) are a more realistic assessment of hybrid mileage. Everyone knew a Toyota Prius didn't get 60 mpg, but that was the law and the number was legal and every other manufacturer used the same standardized testing.

Ethanol reduces mileage. I have given up trying to fill up with pure gasoline because that option just doesn't seem to exist in the York area anymore. Every pump seems to sport the 10% mix with sayings like "enriched with ethanol" and pictures of corn stalks.

Corn based ethanol is a counterproductive alternative form of energy helping to increase food prices and lowering the national fleet fuel efficiency. Compared to gasoline and diesel, the gas mileage in ethanol is the least. Ethanol yields about 30% less gas mileage than gasoline. The stuff even takes more energy to produce from field to consumer than it is worth. Ask our politicians why they love it so much.

My neighbor Chuck says his Chevy pickup with a 6 liter V-8 gets 11 mpg whether he runs it hard or takes it easy. It's basically a simple, large displacement energy converter that doesn't strain or change it's operating function to adjust for load.

Hybrids use several tools to squeeze mileage out of a gallon of gas so mileage can vary widely.

I was working on a post tonight for my village website emigsville.org. Just a simple add to a recipe series. The author of the recipe remembered parents and teachers building a Victory Garden at the old Roundtown school in Manchester Township during WWII.

The idea of a Victory Garden was a government sponsored idea to help support the food supply during a time of intense wartime demand and empower communities to feel rewarded for their war effort during WWII. A simple concept that built a community and increased supply of food.

Corn ethanol, a government/tax endorsed plan - this time to wean us from foreign oil, stretches the food supply and drives up prices isolating the public and giving them less control over their destiny.

It is a curious evolution, whether of human nature, community or the role of government, that empowerment of communities and individuals goes largely untapped with this latest struggle. The price of fuel may bring new innovation.

Two studies published this week suggest that almost all bio-fuels cause more greenhouse gas emissions than conventional fuels if the full emissions costs of production are taken into account.

By planting bio-fuel crops, proponents hope to harvest the benefits of the carbon soaked up as the plants grow to offset the carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted when the resulting fuel is burned. According to both studies that depends on what was planted before the bio-crop was planted.

Both rain forests destroyed to produce bio-crops and grassland in the United States do a better job of scrubbing carbon than the crops they replace. Furthermore, the displacement of food crops results in more land being tilled to make up for lost food production pulling natural land out of the loop. If arid land is used that normally doesn't support plant life there is a plus.

One study -- written by a group of researchers from Princeton University, Woods Hole Research Center and Iowa State University along with an agriculture consultant -- concluded that over 30 years, use of traditional corn-based ethanol would produce twice as much greenhouse gas emissions as regular gasoline.

Another analysis, written by a Nature Conservancy scientist along with University of Minnesota researchers, found that converting rainforests, peatlands, savannas or grasslands in Southeast Asia and Latin America to produce biofuels will increase global warming pollution for decades, if not centuries. washingtonpost.com

Nature Conservancy study

Martin Library will host an environmental panel discussion on February 21 featuring:

I was interviewed, via keybord of course, since I will be one of the moderators. Below is the text of the interview:

5. In your opinion, how does the level of environmental awareness in York County compare to that of other similar-sized communities?

York is a land of plenty. We have enjoyed low population congestion and are blessed with resources. California is tuned into air pollution because congestion and climate patterns demanded action. The desert southwest is tuned into water supply because of the lack of it. Other than the Codorus Creek, a stray landfill and an occasional bad ozone day, York County generally has not been confronted in the face with major environmental issues. High oil prices, wars and global cries that we need to act have brought these concerns home to York.

6. What do you believe the typical Yorker can do to improve the environment?

Use less to do more. Nothing will lower pollution, lower oil prices, and stretch resources more than choosing to use less through product choice and lifestyle. This concept runs contrary to our financial model that, up until now, has promoted and thrived on people using more energy.

7. As editor of Greenmesh.com, what do you see as the most promising alternative to oil-based energy?

Experimenting with many alternatives is the best was to transition away from an oil based economy. It takes time to understand the repercussions of any form of energy production. Solar collection is the lowest impacting source of alternative energy, but in places like Pennsylvania, solar isn’t practical most of the time. We have already experienced the implications of diving head first into corn-based ethanol by higher food and feed prices.

All methods of energy production have environmental implications and placing all our eggs in one basket gives power to a new monopoly and will accentuate any negative effects of pushing a single solution of energy production....

General Motors Corp. said today that it has bought a stake in start-up biofuel company Coskata Inc. which has developed a commercially viable process to bring cellulose-based ethanol to the market in 2011.

Cellulosic ethanol production currently costs about double that of traditional U.S. ethanol, a plant-based distilled alcohol derived mostly from corn in the United States and from sugar in Brazil. reuters

According to the coskataenergy website website:

Coskata is a biology-based renewable energy company. Our technology enables the low-cost production of ethanol from a wide variety of input material including biomass, municipal solid waste and other carbonaceous material. Using proprietary microorganisms and patented bioreactor designs, we will produce ethanol for under US$1.00 per gallon.

What this means is that if someone is able to pull off a low cost cellulosic ethanol production method, the market for corn based ethanol and the recent acceleration in price for corn would drop.

General Motors already has many underutilized flex-fuel vehicles in the nation's vehicle fleet that could use ethanol if a viable method of low cost production was invented.

Vernon Township, up near Lake Erie, like many areas of Pennsylvania has farmland to burn and is struggling with the idea of building ethanol plants. Northwestern Pennsylvania was the nation’s petroleum pioneer.

Crawford County ethanol plant still doesn't add up for experts
- Meadville Tribune

James Dunn from Penn State University recommends. As Dunn sees it, the bottom line on corn ethanol is simple. “I wouldn’t do it in Pennsylvania,” he said, summing up his presentation to the task force. “The math doesn’t work.”

Keystone Ethanol Energy Producers, a company formed to bring a corn-based ethanol plant to Crawford or Mercer counties, has a consultant coming in September to help choose a site.

...while in Europe, government has chosen not to feed feedstock.fuels

Ethanol prices are now trading in line with gasoline prices for the first time since late August and, fueled by the new U.S. energy bill, are likely to rise further, Citigroup said in a recent report. "We firmly believe the new energy bill will serve as a significant catalyst to the ethanol industry, as the higher mandated ethanol levels stipulated by the new renewable fuel standard should serve to bring ethanol supply and demand back into balance, thereby strengthening ethanol's pricing fundamentals," said the report. marketwatch.com

Europe's mainstream bio-fuel experiment takes form of biodiesel, which fuels many cars on the road in Europe.

The price for their main feedstock, rapeseed, has risen more than 50 percent since the beginning of the year. But the price of the final product, biodiesel, has plunged, because producers are churning out far more biodiesel than the market can absorb.

Similar conditions hold sway among U.S. ethanol makers: heightened corn prices combined with an ethanol glut. But U.S. producers are celebrating while their European counterparts exude gloom. Why the difference?

That's an easy one. In the U.S., the government is playing Santa Claus, while in Europe, governments are responding to industry demands for more goodies with a cold stare... gristmill.grist.org

I was talking to a farmer down in Springfield Township this week for a story. He was complaining that the price of feed for his animals has doubled this year.

DB writes Greenmesh:

I just noticed that Tom's on the East has E-85 gas. I am impressed with that and am wondering if I can use it in my Toyota Matrix without any adjustments.

I don't believe that your Toyota Matrix (year?) is a "flex-fuel" vehicle. It can probably tolerate ethanol amounts of up to 5-10%, but not the 85% in E85. Manufacturers usually state pretty boldly in the user's manual if your car can tolerate ethanol blend and what percentage it can tolerate. My Honda Civic hybrid says 5%.

Toyota and Honda haven't been big ethanol fans. Honda's plan is to go with clean diesel technology as an alternative fuel; both have been developing hybrids for the past decade. General Motors, and Chrysler have many flex-fuel cars, but a majority of those cars on the road never use E85. For a couple hundred extra a car and not much R/D it's an easy green marketing handle.

Understand that while it looks inexpensive to buy ethanol because it is heavily subsidized by tax dollars, your fuel mileage (if the car can take it) will probably decrease by 20%, so the cost savings to you may be a wash. If it was the same price as gasoline, people would not buy it.

Here is a chart from fueleconomy.gov that shows ethanol compatible models for each year. Not that for every vehicle, it costs more and it gets worse mileage than gasoline.

Our ethanol is produced from corn which has driven up the price related food stock, takes alot of energy to produce and can only be transported by trucks, which use more fuel, to transport. Corn needs alot of water and fertilizer to grow and uses more water at the refinery.

Although I too am impressed that Tom's would take the risk and spent $$$ to convert a pump to ethanol to test market an alternative fuel. In the end, however, there isn't much to be impressed about with corn based ethanol.

However, we can hope that some inventive spirit and hero will harness their brain power and conscience, figure out a way to excite people who want to make piles of money fast with investment, and come up with a way to harness ethanol from something other than a food stock.

At that point flex-fuel vehicles will sing a whole new happy song.

The energy bill fell flat in the Senate Friday after the house passed it. The White House issued a statement saying,

"“Their proposal would raise taxes and increase energy prices for Americans. That is a misguided approach and if it made it to the president’s desk, he would veto it.” nyt.com

The bill is more of a panic reaction by a few well intentioned to a dire situation than a solution.

Well true, the bill would have increased the price of energy for Americans because a majority of the taxes were on oil companies that would have passed the cost along to consumers; before the money taken away from consumers could catch up by creating competition with alternative energy. Also people affected by feed prices like cattleman lined up not liking it because the huge ethanol mandate would push the price of feed up squeezing them against consumers.

The love for corn based ethanol is mind boggling requiring production of ethanol and other bio fuels, from about 5 billion gallons a year of bad science and impact of the food supply today to 36 billion gallons of the same and yet to be discovered methods of production by 2022.

Old school oil wants to clutch it's money as long as possible and government is here to empower status quo economic highways. Meanwhile, no one with power is enough of a hero to see the big picture and force change. The planet continues to die.

Nothing is going to get done here until consumers start using some things, stop using others and conserving what we must use but don't want. The great part about capitalism is that there has to be a market for something to gain power. Ultimately, an educated consumer holds all the power.

The price of corn has risen due to the perceived demand, driving up the cost of other crops that have not been planted because corn has become more profitable. We can add beer to the list of milk, soy...

The flower used to stabilize beer and give it flavor was available in abundance in recent years, lowering the price. This - coupled with the rising price of corn for ethanol - led farmers to switch crops. This year, the global acreage devoted to hops was half of what it was a decade ago, and the market finally caught up. ydr.com/news

Ethanol, a highly government subsidized product, has increased the cost of food across the board. Using food stock to produce fuel is a fundamentally flawed principal unless you can profit from a surge in food prices.

You may think that high food prices helps the family farm down the street, but the family farm is not the benefactor of this cycle.

Farm subsidies paid out in the United States over the period 1996 to 1998, amounted to $ 22.856 billion. And more than 60% of these federal farm subsidies under the Freedom to Farm Act of 1996 went to the top 10% of farmers and landowners or an average of $100,000 each, while the bottom 90% of the farmers got just $6900 for the three years.ewg.org

This was the year (2007) the antiquated and expensive farm subsidy program was to be reformed.

A growing chorus has turned against the $16 billion annual subsidy, which gives most of the money to corporate farms rather than the small farmers for whom the program was designed during the Depression. washingtonpost.com

If costing three digits to fill up the typical American full-sized pickup isn't a wake-up call, perhaps the case of beer costing three digits in back is.

Ethanol is yet another seized opportunity of a mature business climate that has lost the ability to innovate; rather than to seek a solution for energy independence for the country as a whole. In reality, a pure capitalist system's goal is just to make money. You hope a few heroes and visionaries step forward.

In a democracy, it is up to government and the people who put government in power to demand a future.

Any guess as to how they will make up that profit loss going forward?

(AP/Nov. 1) - Standard & Poor's Ratings Services on Thursday warned it may lower its credit ratings on food maker Kraft Foods Inc. after the company's third-quarter profit sank 20 percent, partly due to high dairy costs.

S&P noted that the company's margins will likely remained pressured through the fourth quarter and into 2008 by higher commodity costs, particularly for dairy. Dairy costs have skyrocketed due to international demand for milk and higher animal feed costs. Animal feed is made from corn, which has risen to record levels due to demand for the alternative fuel ethanol. Corn is also used to make the fuel. cnn.com/money

The 300-hp engine that runs on 100 percent ethanol (E100) has virtually no chance of coming here due to the lack of infrastructure for pure ethanol. We burn a percentage fuel mixture of ethanol known as E85.

Thanks to increased airflow and higher compression ratios made possible by the octane-rich E100 (equivalent to 106-octane gasoline), the BioPower 100 cranks out 300 horsepower and 295 pounds-feet of torque from its turbocharged 2.0-liter engine. That's double the output of the gas turbo that runs in the European 9-5 2.0t. The concept car can run from zero to 60 mph in the low six-second range; it would easily dust its mild-mannered twin, which makes the run in a leisurely 9.6 seconds.

Combined city and highway gas mileage is about 25 mpg. That represents a 20 percent drop from gas mileage in the 9-5 2.0t cars.com

The engine also runs on E85 and gasoline, but without the kick and I would suppose better fuel economy.

Aside from changing snack habits,

Candy purveyors are also being hit with high prices for high-fructose corn syrup, which have risen more than 40% in the last year because of the ethanol industry's demand for corn. "With so many forces against them, it's hardly any wonder that candymakers are scrambling to keep their heads above water," says Marcia Mogelonsky, a senior research analyst at Mintel. businessweek.com

Hershey is exploring a possible merger with candy giant Cadbury Schweppes

As with all investment "opportunities", the money flows in; as production grows, price/demand will fall.

The red flag with ethanol investment is that at some point the reality will point to a shaky framework of government subsidies, the environmental impact, impact on food prices, and that it just wasn't a great investment in alternative fuels or our future.

Oct. 25 - De Moines, Iowa -- Ethanol producers have expanded so quickly, they're making more ethanol than drivers can use. The Renewable Fuels Association counts 129 ethanol plants in the United States, a nearly fifty percent increase from just two years ago.

Another eighty plants are undergoing construction or expansion, but with corn prices at record highs and ethanol prices down, some investors are rethinking the power of corn. whotv.com

In honor of local resident Ray Wallace, who dedicates part of his life filling the greenmesh email inbox with reasons why corn based ethanol production is a mistake in the US., I dedicate today as Ethanol reality day.

Why this alternative fuel has gained so much momentum in production is a formulation of political incentives and feeding an existing ethanol (read commodities and entrenched profit models) infrastructure. The reality is that there seems to be not much good for the general public not to mention the overall environmental impact and benefit as an alternative fuel.

"There's a low level of interest in E85, a low level of understanding," Louis Sheetz, the Altoona-based company's executive vice president of marketing, said Tuesday at a forum on the fuel at Carnegie Mellon University. "It will be a gradual learning experience for consumers."

More than a year after Sheetz gas stations and stores in Monroeville, Pleasant Hills and Robinson switched diesel pumps over to the blend, each of the three locations is selling less than half the volume that those pumps turned out before they were converted to E85.

Sheetz and representatives of General Motors Corp., the state Department of Environmental Protection and Steel City Biofuels took part in the program hosted by the university's Green Design Institute, in order to talk up E85. pittsburghlive.com

I try to find something good about corn to ethanol production. The consequences of the execution of the production of this fuel will eventually sour the American public to the concept of biofuels at a time when marketing acceptance of biofuels in general is more important then the fuel itself.

Ray, take it from here in the comment link... you are better at this than me.

Food prices jump 23% in last 18 months and could bring interest rate hikes Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke fears

The demand, triggered in part by the increasing use of agricultural commodities to make ethanol and other substitutes for crude oil, may keep prices high for years. The OECD sees U.S. output of corn-based ethanol and European consumption of oilseeds for biofuels doubling by 2016.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's estimate for global inventories of grain are at the lowest level in 30 years in terms of days of consumption, says Carl Weinberg, chief economist for High Frequency Economics in Valhalla, New York. bloomberg.com

Promoted by politicians because of the money flow and loved by oil companies because they giggle inside; ethanol uses as much fossil fuel to produce as is the energy produced by ethanol (see chart below/berkeley.edu).

Snowed by marketing, the American public digests this feeding frenzy on their quality of life while another creation of those who have money and power, get more.

It would be better to take all the government subsidies used to produce ethanol, add that to the cost to the consumer in rising inflation due to food costs and invest that into wind, solar, water or anything else that doesn’t feed our ever growing, greedy commodities market. While there isn’t an immediate return of profit skimming from known markets, we might instead try and build a nation with a reputation as a leader for ecological innovation that will one day save us from ourselves.

The economic viability of fuels shift.

I had a flashback today from 1990, when diesel was cheaper than gas. The economics of higher mileage from running a diesel engine has been undercut by a fuel surcharge over gasoline for some time.

The Rutters on Richland Ave. in York posted $2.89 for both regular and diesel. The Hess in West York is selling diesel for 5 cents less than gasoline. Diesel fuel prices overall are lower than a year ago.

Another interesting development is the price of ethanol. Ethanol blend sold for $2.49 a gallon at Tom's Longstown on Wednesday. Government subsidies have promoted more production of ethanol this year bringing down the price from a year ago. msnbc.com

Section 45 of the tax code calls for tax credits for electricity produced from certain renewable resources, including poultry waste, as well as wood shavings, straw, rice hulls and other bedding material for the disposition of manure. The rational is that it is better to burn it than let it seep into the ground water even though the EPA already requires chicken farmers to take actions regarding waste disposal.

This and others like clean-coal tax credit, which promotes coal over cleaner energies is known as a windfall by lobbyists, is enacted by legislatures and paid for by consumers.

With the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit, a federal tax credit that took effect in 2005, when you buy E10 at the pump (which is 10 percent ethanol), the company that blended the fuel is getting a tax credit of 5 cents for every gallon you buy.

Add all the corn and ethanol subsidies up, according to the International Institute for Sustainable Development, and you have subsidies approaching $1.40 per gallon of ethanol.

Expect the price of raw milk to go up 40 cents a gallon by summer.

Cows eat alfalfa and grains. The price of alfalfa goes up because farmers are growing more corn as the demand for corn for ethanol plants coming online increases. Add to this increasing energy costs for dairy producers and a reduction in milk production over the past few years because of slim profit margins for dairy farmers; with a strong global demand for U.S dairy products.

Turning to food based biofuel sources like corn and soy as a replacement for fossil fuel is already resulting in higher prices of those commodities greenmesh 3/29/07.

Although the ability for us to turn surplus food into gas should be part of an overall energy evolution, historically individuals in our market will seize on any idea that appears to make quick profit and ignore the long term effects for the rest of us.

The United States is no longer a major exporter of goods. We have U.S. corporations that do business on a global scale, but the advantage of using foreign labor and the demand for products in those countries (as simple countries become more complex) is a far more lucrative market than the U.S. Imports of oil (to feed our heavily developed, complex lifestyle) and goods (because our labor has gotten so expensive because of our lifestyle) exceeds our exports.

Food is our national security wild card.

A reader on the YDR York Exchange writes:

The more I read, the more I think that diesel is better than either hybrid or flex, although when plug-ins become feasible, that may be the way to go for people who drive less than 40-50 miles a day (unless they could recharge at home and at their destination?) The problem with that is finding clean, renewable, adequate sources of the electricity needed to recharge them. The cost of that electricity could also be a concern.

Where this will leave the price of corn, other crops not planted (and food) this fall is anyone's guess.

Perhaps the bright spot in this is that the cheap corporate sweetener of choice, High Fructose Corn Syrup, may be at a price point with sweeteners that are actually healthy for you, like honey. However, with demand comes price, affecting the entire food market.

Soaring corn prices are enticing farmers to plant the biggest corn crop in 60 years because of the boom in demand for ethanol.

Starting tomorrow, the IndyCar series plans to run its entire 17-race 2007 season, using ethanol, making it the first series in motor sports to compete on a renewable fuel. Its high-tech and high-speed Honda Indy V-8 engines will be powered by 100 percent fuel-grade ethanol.

A sponsor of the race is an ethanol producer, helping to make that possible.

Interesting article on the ethanol machine that is building steam... we desperately need a hero.

Increasing corn-ethanol gives you MORE pesticide contamination, MORE drilling for gas, MORE air pollution from E85 & refineries, MORE greenhouse gasses as they move to coal to power refineries, MORE demand on our water system, MORE water and air pollution, MORE soil erosion, and LESS land protected in the Conservation Reserve Program.

So while many environmental groups are in favor of both corn-ethanol and land conservation, they are opposed to pesticide contamination, expanded drilling, water and air pollution and are very concerned about global warming. But there seems to be a complete disconnect when it comes to ethanol production.http://www.energybulletin.net/25558.html

• The wholesale price for corn is rising as the demand for ethanol increases
• The wholesale price of soybeans is rising as demand outstrips supply

The consumer has two choices: Drive the market or be driven into poverty.

A Honda Insight in the UK won class A of the fiercely contested 2006 Formula 1000 Rally Championship at the first attempt using E85 bio ethanol.

The race requires that the cars have engines under 1 liter. An electric/gasoline propulsion system would probably be ideal in a rally situation where a car must stop-and-go like crazy (needing bursts of torque) and the builders were limited in engine size.

A clean-burning, free-from-foreign-oil, efficient racer which is quite the opposite of NASCAR machines.
http://www.crash.net/news_view~t~Hybrid-car-wins-title-at-first-attempt-~cid~15~id~140011.htm

I‘ve been scanning theaircar.com for 20 minutes and I still don’t quite get it. The Web site is mostly in English, but it runs into Spanish and sometimes French. The tech just isn’t translated well at times. Mostly they don’t want you to know what they are doing, the best way to keep a competitive edge and the worst way (to me at least) to market something.

The engine runs on either compressed air alone or a combination of compressed air and fossil fuel. The compressed air engine is for cities (only) reaching speeds of 31 mph. The dual propulsion engine will run on compressed air up to 31 mph and then switch to fuel mode. The engine will be able to use gasoline, gas oil, bio diesel, gas, liquidized gas, alcohol etc.

The Regional Economic Development District Initiatives of South Central Pennsylvania (REDDI) and the Governor's Agriculture Renewable Energy Council will hold a conference today about biofuels at the Holiday Inn in West Manchester Township.

The Tom's convenience store at the intersection of Route 124 and Route 24 is selling ethanol blend, E85. The blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline is not suited as a replacement for gasoline in every vehicle.