Originally Posted by
DakotaRog
Lots of thoughtful comments miked, nice job. I don't have time tonight (maybe tomorrow from work because its part of my 9 to 5 job that I do) but there are a lot more variables involved with overall use of corn in the US and the world than just the changes in more of it used to make ethanol (and about a third of the corn used in EtOH production comes back into the animal feed sources as DDGS in various forms). That's just one example of how more complex corn use than what the talking heads can say in 30 seconds or so.
I'm curious about . When ethanol replaced MTBE (truly a dangerous ground water polluant) as the major ozone reducing agent in gasoline in big metro areas, what extra "pollutants" did ethanol bring to the table?
More on corn use tomorrow on the government's dime, not mine. Later...
Ummm .... i look at it the history of ethanol as failed public policy and poor governmental decision making.
In the beginning gasoline was much lower in octane and didn't need the anti knock additives. As engine designs advanced in the 1920's they started upping compression ratios to get better engine performance and this necessitated the need for tetraethyl lead (TEL)to be added to the fuel.
By the 1970's there was a growing awareness that these lead compounds really needed to phased out because they pose a public health hazard.
This is where the guvmin't really started messing up. The EPA mandated that TEL be phased out in favor of MTBE. All of the harm caused by MTBE can be directly attributed to the agency tasked with protecting the environment ! It finally dawned on them that they had made a big mistake so they mandated that MTBE should be phased out in favor of Ethanol.
The thing is that it isn't necessary to use anywhere near a 10 % blend if you're using it strictly as an anti knock additive.
The idea of a 10 % blend goes back to the days of "Gasahol " . It was tried and failed by the free market in the 70's and by the early 80's was all but abandoned simply because it wasn't a very good idea. There are a lot of problems with it as a fuel.
I'll never forget that cold winter's day back around 1981. Something happened in the tank at our gas station and our gasahol went bad. We had 20 cars strung out along Route 1 ... all with damaged motors caused by bad fuel. The company had to make good on all of the repairs and the product was discontinued within a week.
The main reason the idea of blended fuel was ever resurrected from the grave was because the EPA forced it on us. It was sometime back around 2004 during the first GWB administration. They didn't say that an individual had had to use it but rather that increasing quotas of ethanol had to be blended into the nation's fuel supply.
The main reason that it's flatlined over the last few years is because most of the vehicles on the road aren't designed for flex fuel. Don't quote me on this but i believe that e-85 has an octane rating of around 95 - 100.
Consider the impact of the ethanol fuel mandate:
1: We live in an overcrowded world. Lots of hungry mouths to feed. We export a lot of grain to developing nations. Diverting corn to fuel raises food prices and shortens supplies.
2: There aren't as many BTU's in a gallon of ethanol as there are in a gallon of gasoline. You get worse gas mileage with this blended fuel.
3: It's an unstable blend and can begin phase separation in as little as 30 days. If you talk with mechanics it's a real problem to get rid of a tankful of fuel that's gone bad. It's not uncommon to dump it out in the woods or down a drain somewhere.
4: It's quite corrosive ! Automotive fuel tanks and fuel systems had to be specially designed to carry this fuel. Gas stations had to replace their storage tanks and underground fuel piping. Refineries and storage depots had to replace tanks, pumps, piping, and other handling equipment.
The cost to retrofit imposed on society by the EPA has been phenomenal.
5: While most newer cars will tolerate the blended fuel okay it rendered millions of older carbeureted cars that were otherwise serviceable as obsolete. This created a lot of junk and when you think of all of the energy it takes to make a new car it really makes you wonder if ethanol was a good energy choice.
6: Blended fuels are really bad for small engines. It's destroyed a lot of equipment.
7: It's not a good choice as a fuel for marine or aviation applications. Whether you are up in the air or fifty miles out to sea an engine failure due to fuel problems can be deadly.
Nuff said ?
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