Is adding ethanol to gas a positive or negative benefit to our country?

[clfarms1]

I always wonder when I hear this...I would wager that 99% of the people who have "ethanol" issues with their small engines don't filter their fuel....would you drink unfiltered water? Why should your small engine.

I shot the connecting rod out the side of my snow blower this morning....must be caused by the ethanol blended fuel I run in it

I always drink un filtered water. You know Evian spells backwards. Naive them french aren't to dumb

[Redge]

Thanks for the input on the subsidy/subsidize question Crappiefarmer!

[midcarolina]

Here is a little tidbit of info on ethanol subsidies..............Obama's 2015 Budget Backs Costly Corn Ethanol Subsidies - US News..

[RetiredRR]

Interesting read, even the tidbits. I'll keep adding my additives to my gasoline and diesel.

[crappiefarmer]

Here is a little tidbit of info on ethanol subsidies..............Obama's 2015 Budget Backs Costly Corn Ethanol Subsidies - US News..

And it will never happen with a Republican Congress. Rest assured Midcarolina that it won't happen. It is Obama's budget not the congressional budget. But it sure would help get more competition in the fuel market. You know that is why oil and gas are so much lower now. An oil war going on between the US and Saudi Arabia. Overproduction at its finest. Now when this oil war is over in about 6 months and gas prices go back above $4 a gallon, Look up the price of E85. You might not hate Ethanol so bad then. I saw E85 priced in Minnesota at $2.75 when regular E10 priced at $3.95. Sounds like a great idea to take that choice away doesn't it? I am a conservative but conservatives have got this one wrong. We should be embracing all types of energy (not bumbling up in Solar like has just happened). There is a way to do it. We should diversify sources of fuel and different feedstocks. This will make fuel cheaper for the long haul. Or, we can just keep giving a huge amount of our living to the 4 big oil companies who can turn the spigot down anytime they want to and be slaves to the Saudi royal family who are battling with us now for control of the world oil market.CF

[speckfinder]

I just wish we had a choice.

[midcarolina]

I'm certainly no fan of oil companies.........The truth is there is NO need for a alternative fuel source If certain things changed, But if we did I just do not think ethanol is the answer.......
If Ethanol was to get a major hold of the market there is nothing to stop them from closing the spigot to manipulate the price either
And there really aren't any conservatives in congress any more........just Democrat lights.

[matzilla]

I just wish we had a choice.

I've never understood why there isn't any nonblended gas in certain areas. When I travel out east for work its pretty common to see e10 as the only option at several gas stations. Most places around here have 87e10, 87 non blended, and maybe 90 or 91 in either blended or non. Does anyone know why certain areas only have ethanol blend while other areas have multiple options?

[crappiefarmer]

I'm certainly no fan of oil companies.........The truth is there is NO need for a alternative fuel source If certain things changed, But if we did I just do not think ethanol is the answer.......
If Ethanol was to get a major hold of the market there is nothing to stop them from closing the spigot to manipulate the price either
And there really aren't any conservatives in congress any more........just Democrat lights.

Well I respect Your opinion. Just don't agree with it. Brazil has already proven that it works just fine as an alternative. They make theirs from sugar and when they have a crop issue, the Ethanol gets higher than gas. They switch to gas because it is cheaper. When Ethanol is cheaper, they use that. That cuts demand on gas and forces the gas price back in line. Now if we were to do that here, anytime Iran closed up that straight in the Mediterranean that 1/4 of the worlds oil flows through, we would not have a threat of gas spiking to $8 a gallon. shutting this country down over night.

The free market would work fine with two competing fuel sources. The thing about ethanol is You can also diversify the feed stock to produce it. It can be made from many different things. When many of them become economically viable, it will not have the effect it has now on corn price. The feed stocks will compete for demand. The only place you can get oil is from the ground. Ethanol sources are grown every year and replenished. In other words, we will never run out. If we could learn to use E50 here, then we would take power from the oil market. It would not be able to spike as much because it would be known that there is an alternative.

Some of us remember the gas lines of the 70's. There was a push to start Ethanol then. When the oil embargo ended, the gas prices went cheap and we lost interest in Ethanol development. Brazil did not. they kept their program in place. Because we did not find a competing source of fuel, we suffered the collapse of our economy in 2008. People had to decide whether to buy gas or pay their mortgage. Since they had to drive to work, they bought gas. They lost their homes because of it. Had we had an alternative fuel program in place then, we may have been able to avoid the whole situation. If we don't use something to diversify our energy, then we will continue to cycle and in 20 or 25 years, we will be right back in the same situation. You never put all Your eggs in one basket. Unless we have no choice. We have a choice here and it can be blended with gas so there is no need for changing infrastructure. It works with the same pumps that pump gas.

One question I have never been able to figure out is, why would a president who came from one of the biggest oil states in the country, sign the energy bill that made ethanol happen? There had to be a reason.CF

[crappiefarmer]

I've never understood why there isn't any nonblended gas in certain areas. When I travel out east for work its pretty common to see e10 as the only option at several gas stations. Most places around here have 87e10, 87 non blended, and maybe 90 or 91 in either blended or non. Does anyone know why certain areas only have ethanol blend while other areas have multiple options?

I don't know for sure, but may be something to do with the proximity of a refinery or lack there of? Maybe not enough pipelines to diversify? I don't like that either. You should have the choice. That was what we as farmers were told was going to happen and it has not everywhere. Only one location within 2 miles of me has regular gas. Everywhere else is E10. Could be a state deal too. NC decide to run all NCDOT diesel motors on bio diesel a few years ago and it was a disaster. The used Biodiesel made from animal fat. What happens when You fry up hamburger, drain the grease and let it cool back down? it gels. Thats what happened here and it clogged fuel system terribly. Had they used soybean Biodiesel or some other vegetable oil feedstock, that would not have happened. Animal fat Biodiesel works fine in places like Florida and southern Texas where it stays warm most of the year but is not the ticket for up North. That was the state of NC that did that here. They may only want certain blends for taxing reasons? I don't know but needs to be fixed. I know one thing, EPA will never let the majority of our fuel go gas 100%. We should have that choice but they will not let it happen.CF