Comments on: Ag Secretary Endorses Ethanol Blend Increase

By: flee

flee — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 19:25:01 +0000

Oh, the economics to country appear to be a big winner. Job creation and revenue injection to economy. Farmers have another revenue stream a big plus. Ethanol production very good at keeping fuel prices depressed. Price of fuel the biggest impact on food production, transporting, and processing expenses. Cost of energy dwarfs the cost of grain upon food production. We have huge capability to produce corn, just market demand shouldn’t out strip supply. We need accurate future market projections, so the farmers can develop good plans and investments. Higher cost of corn not so bad if your a farmer. Also, farmers not taking near as much gov’t tax supports, another savings. May higher grain prices help international farmers. You bet, even the 3rd world farmers are planting more to profit and developing a viable farm to feed their own citizenship not so bad either.

Engine manufactures are working on ethanol efficiences as D Benes mentioned, above. Diesel compression ratios, spark plug ignition, and common port injection of fuel. Turbo charging a better efficiency if cost not sensitive. The technology and efficiency bump will improve past current unleaded engine mpg. Also, appears truck or heavy equipment could benefit with the new engine as lower in cost and similar high torque. These engines as compared to diesel would get less mpg as very hard to compete with diesel, but ethanol fuel could be an attractive alternative and stabilize their fuel costs. Not so vulnerable to OPEC ripoffs, that have ability to make companies go bankrupt. As I understand these new engines will be flex fuel, so diesel if cheaper can be utilized. Even unleaded, wow.

By: flee

flee — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 19:01:07 +0000

Poet, the largest ethanol producer, is currently producing corn cob ethanol in small plant as a trial for their 2010 mega plant. Harvesting to be simo with corn and equipment already available. Cobs, not very important as compared to green plant matter for land nutrients. Corn cob feed stock, alone, could produce 5 billion gallon annual ethanol…corn cobs. The company CEO expects Poet to build dual mode processing plants. Most plants currently can utilize a mix of grains i.e. sorghum and corn. Current plants scheduled to have cellulose parallel capability and share common equipment with grain plants.

By: D Benes

D Benes — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 20:32:56 +0000

According to people I know that burn E85, there is about a 10 percent drop in mileage from regular unleaded to the E85 blend. Theoretically you should see little or no change in mileage from E10 to E20, unless your vehicle is not designed to operate on high octane fuel. Ethanol is a higher octane fuel than regular unleaded. Therefore it requires a higher compression ratio in the engine to fully utilize the energy in the fuel. Ethanol does contain less energy per gallon than some blends of unleaded. I usually get about .5 to 1 mpg better with my Silverado when I burn E10 compared to regular unleaded. It has a 9.5:1 ratio. It all depends on what compression ratio your engine in your car has. Cellulosic ethanol does show a lot of promise, but the technology is just not ready yet. Give the industry 5 years and we wont be using as much corn for ethanol, but we will be taking acres away from corn to produce the some of the biomass for ethanol. Some of the biomass that will be used will be the stalks, cobs, etc. from production of corn or other grain, but for every ton of biomass removed from a field, the nutrients tied up in that material needs to be replaced to be able to continually produce a crop. There is no perfect answer.

By: Colin Smythe-Faversham

Colin Smythe-Faversham — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 16:27:19 +0000

Sanford Brown may not eat field corn, but I bet he does eat pork, beef, chicken, milk, and eggs from animals rationed on corn.

By: Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack supports E15 or E20 blend | Car Listings & Reviews

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 16:20:33 +0000

[...] debate this issue. Remember, Chu has said that “corn is not the right crop for biofuels.” [Source: Domestic Fuel]Photo by dichohecho. Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0.Filed under: Ethanol, Legislation [...]

By: Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack supports E15 or E20 blend | Car Reviews, Listings & News

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 16:20:07 +0000

[...] Domestic Fuel]Photo by dichohecho. Licensed under Creative Commons license [...]

By: Colin Smythe-Faversham

Colin Smythe-Faversham — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 16:19:30 +0000

You didn’t answer my question. What can I expect to happen to my fuel mileage burning E15 or E20?

A small start-up plant in my town makes hydrocoptic marzelvanes for retro-encabulators. It would certainly be a boon to our local economy if Congress would mandate everyone buy those.

By: Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack supports E15 or E20 blend - Anything & Everything

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 16:15:19 +0000

By: ethanol flex-fuel | Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack supports E15 or E20 blend | myGreenCar.eu

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 16:12:33 +0000

By: D Benes

D Benes — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 15:59:39 +0000

Ethanol has been great for us ag producers. It has opened new markets and helped to increase our prices locally here in eastern Nebraska. Ethanol does not affect food prices much at all. Recently grain prices have dropped dramatically and the food prices at the grocery stores have not come down, except for meat and dairy. More ethanol would be great for the economy and the environment.
FWIW, no one eats the corn i grow, it all goes into livestock feed or ethanol. And the production of ethanol produces a coproduct that is a better livestock feed than corn, at a lower price than corn.

By: Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack supports E15 or E20 blend | Only Hybrids

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 15:21:57 +0000

[...] Domestic Fuel]Photo by dichohecho. Licensed under Creative Commons license [...]

By: Cindy Zimmerman

Cindy Zimmerman — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 15:05:04 +0000

Colin,
Biofuels have been a boon for the agriculture industry. Ethanol and biodiesel have helped our farmers find new markets for their crops. In addition, once cellulosic ethanol is perfected, it will provide new cash crops for farmers in the form of energy crops. USDA and DOE have been working hand in hand on the development of biofuels for our energy security.
When was the last time you ate field corn?

By: Sanford Brown

Sanford Brown — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 14:30:22 +0000

Let me get this straight: our AGRICULTURE secretary is weighing in on ENERGY policy, and wants farmers to quit growing FOOD and supply the ethanol producers instead?

So, what do we EAT while we are driving our ethanol-fueled vehicles???

By: Colin Smythe-Faversham

Colin Smythe-Faversham — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 14:21:18 +0000

My highway mileage drops from 32 mpg to 29 mpg when I burn E10 instead of gasoline. What can I expect with E15 or E20?