In order to participate in the GunBroker Member forums, you must be logged in with your GunBroker.com account. Click the sign-in button at the top right of the forums page to get connected.
Unintended Consequences of Growing our
TooBig
Member Posts: 28,559 ✭✭✭
Unintended Consequences of Growing Our Fuel
It's been nearly a decade since ethanol was pumped into the energy marketplace through government edict. And while many in the agricultural industry have made a killing from the various mandates and subsidies, the typical food consumer has seen the price of food necessarily skyrocket, while gasoline also remains an expensive commodity.
Yet this growing demand for corn as a terribly inefficient motor fuel via the production of ethanol has increased its price to a point where those who depend on corn as animal feed are finding they can't profitably raise livestock and poultry any longer. In California alone, an estimated 100 dairy farms may go bankrupt this year due to increasing feed prices, and the resulting diminished supply promises to tighten the market enough to drastically increase the price of milk and many other dairy items.
The same goes for poultry producers, as growers are squeezed by the higher feed prices. Another California farm operation, turkey grower Zacky Farms, was forced into bankruptcy due to surging commodity prices and slack demand for poultry products over the last several years. That declining demand can be traced to increased retail prices.
There is, however, an "out" clause in the ethanol mandate in cases of national emergency, and six states, including major poultry producers like Maryland, Delaware, North Carolina and Arkansas, have called on the Obama EPA to waive the mandate under that clause. But the agency has taken no action and seems deaf to their pleas for help. No surprise there.
It's been nearly a decade since ethanol was pumped into the energy marketplace through government edict. And while many in the agricultural industry have made a killing from the various mandates and subsidies, the typical food consumer has seen the price of food necessarily skyrocket, while gasoline also remains an expensive commodity.
Yet this growing demand for corn as a terribly inefficient motor fuel via the production of ethanol has increased its price to a point where those who depend on corn as animal feed are finding they can't profitably raise livestock and poultry any longer. In California alone, an estimated 100 dairy farms may go bankrupt this year due to increasing feed prices, and the resulting diminished supply promises to tighten the market enough to drastically increase the price of milk and many other dairy items.
The same goes for poultry producers, as growers are squeezed by the higher feed prices. Another California farm operation, turkey grower Zacky Farms, was forced into bankruptcy due to surging commodity prices and slack demand for poultry products over the last several years. That declining demand can be traced to increased retail prices.
There is, however, an "out" clause in the ethanol mandate in cases of national emergency, and six states, including major poultry producers like Maryland, Delaware, North Carolina and Arkansas, have called on the Obama EPA to waive the mandate under that clause. But the agency has taken no action and seems deaf to their pleas for help. No surprise there.
Comments
I remember gas-a-hol (ethanol) being introduced during the failed Carter administration.
http://forums.gunbroker.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=168360
Are those who spoke out against ethanol proven right?
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/05/16/ethanol-concerns-bring-customers-to-more-costly-pure-gas-stations/#ixzz2Adj8vWGz
York County, Pa. - When looking to fill up your tank, would you drive farther to pay more? Randy Hake's customers are doing just that, since he's the only gas station in York County, Pa., selling "pure" ethanol-free fuel.
"I get 20.1 miles to the gallon, in-town driving. I used to get 13," said Sue Cannon who drives 20 miles to Hake's from her home in Hanover, Pa.
Studies show straight gasoline gets 2 to 10 percent better gas mileage than fuel made with ethanol, an alcohol produced from corn. It costs about 20 cents more per gallon at the pump, but Cannon says paying more up front is worth it down the road. She started using "pure gas" five weeks ago, after paying $12,000 for repairs on her 2005 Nissan Pathfinder.
"I had to change two radiators and two transmissions," said Cannon, who blames the damage on ethanol.
Right now, gasoline sold at more than 95 percent of filling stations in the U.S. contains 10 percent ethanol, a blend known as E-10.
Ethanol was first added to gasoline 30 years ago. Bob Dinneen, CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association, says it's an American success story, utilizing fuel sources like corn, reducing our dependence on foreign oil and reducing gas prices by $1.09 a gallon in 2011.
Has the subsidy ended yet? If not, I am all for ending the tax break.