by GasMan
May 12, 2009 @ 9:28 am
GOODLATTE CALLS ON EPA TO STOP ETHANOL BLEND INCREASE
Washington, DC: Today Congressman Bob Goodlatte was joined by many other Members of Congress in sending a letter to President Barack Obama, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Environment Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson urging them not to approve the current request submitted to EPA to increase the ethanol blend in gasoline. Raising the ethanol blend above 10% could result in serious economic consequences that could negatively affect already struggling American consumers.
“Raising…
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From AgWeek
An Iowa State University agricultural economist who is famous for criticizing the ethanol fuel industry recently made his third appearance in a row at the annual North Dakota Grain Dealers convention. The entertaining economist, Dave Swenson, says he has no idea whether ethanol will be around in another 10 years, but technological feasibility doesn’t necessarily mean economic feasibility, and economic feasibility doesn’t necessarily mean environmental, political or social feasibility. “Politics often leads to sub-optimal programs and policies,” Swenson says.…
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by admin
January 19, 2009 @ 11:16 am
Bloomington, Minnesota Schools Close as Buses Choke on Biodiesel in the Cold
The Star Tribune (Minneapolis): Jan. 16 — All schools in the Bloomington School District will be closed today after state-required biodiesel fuel clogged in school buses Thursday morning and left dozens of students stranded in frigid weather, the district said late Thursday.
Rick Kaufman, the district’s spokesman, said elements in the biodiesel fuel that turn into a gel-like substance at temperatures below 10 degrees clogged about a dozen district buses…
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by GasMan
January 08, 2009 @ 3:33 pm
Leaves Little For Solar, Wind and Geothermal Energy
WASHINGTON, January 8, 2009 - As Congress and the incoming Obama administration plan the nation’s next major investments in green energy, they need to take a hard, clear-eyed look at Department of Energy data documenting corn-based ethanol’s stranglehold on federal renewable energy tax credits and subsidies.
An Environmental Working Group (EWG) report released today uses data from a little noticed analysis buried in an April 2008 report from the federal Energy Information Administration (EIA).…
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One thing about the ethanol sector, … it never stops pushing for more, more, more.
Like right now, the industry is pushing EPA to sign off on higher blends of ethanol into gasoline. Currently the cap is 10 percent.
Why do they want higher blends approved? Simple. Ethanol is more expensive than gasoline right now.
According to the America Coalition for Ethanol, for December 3, 2008, the average rack price - or wholesale price - of ethanol in Nebraska is $1.81 per gallon.…
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The Western Governors Assoc, a bi-partisan group of Governor of Western states - which would include New Mexico, home of former Clinton Energy Secretary and current Governor Bill Richardson, who is now likely to become Obama’s Commerce Secretary - has a common sense plan for energy that it laid out in a four page letter to the President-elect. The plan was signed by Utah Governor John Huntsman (R) and Montana Governor Brian Schwietzer (D). Regarding fuel use, the plan is…
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by GasMan
November 06, 2008 @ 2:02 pm
Obama to Back Ailing Ethanol Makers, Follow Failed Bush Policy
By Mario Parker and Kim Chipman
Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) — President-elect Barack Obama plans to support unprofitable U.S. ethanol producers and pursue the same policies that failed George W. Bush.
Obama, the Democratic senator from Illinois, the second- biggest corn-growing state, will maintain Bush’s goal requiring fuel producers use at least 36 billion gallons of biofuels in 2022, said Heather Zichal, the campaign’s senior energy adviser. The ethanol industry, which loses about 66…
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by GasMan
September 25, 2008 @ 5:20 pm
Worried about high gas prices? Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid isn’t. He wants to put back in the ban on shale oil exploration. This is from Sen Jim DeMint’s blog
We’ve just been alerted that despite House Democrats relenting on extending bans on offshore drilling and oil shale in the continuing resolution (CR) appropriations bill, Democrat Senate Leader Harry Reid has decided to sneak an extension of the oil shale ban through as Congress fights over the financial bailout.
Oil shale in…
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by GasMan
September 22, 2008 @ 2:35 pm
Remember, … trends start in Washington state with all that coolness and hipness and total awareness
Spokesman-Review, The (Spokane, WA) — Sep. 21 — Washington farmers can grow almost anything, but they are not
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by GasMan
September 12, 2008 @ 12:10 pm
Sept. 12 (Bloomberg) — Ford Heights Ethanol LLC applied in June 2006 to build a distillery in the Illinois town that bears its name, promising economic revival to replace abandoned houses and closed stores. Two years later, no work has begun.
For Ford Heights and other agricultural towns, the “green- collar” job revolution envisioned by federal biofuel mandates is a dream deferred. Knee-high grass and old tires cover the site as record prices for corn, the main ingredient in ethanol, discourage…
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