USDA pushing for higher ethanol in gasoline

[jake75]

Politics as usual - USDA is trying to enhance farmer incomes by mandating demand for corn to produce ethanol. I understand there are strict quotas on ethanol from corn/sugar imports to protect US farmers from competition. The Govt. then has the gall to accuse Dean Foods and DFA of monopolization. As for me, I do not want ethanol in the gasoline I buy. Those EPA mpg numbers are based on using gasoline - not lower energy containing gasoline-ethanol blends that do not deliver the same mpg.There are also restrictive import quotas and tariffs on sugar, butter, milk powder, cheese and other dairy products that serve to raise consumer prices. Sugar cane has been an environmental disaster in central Florida, but the sugar cane interests donate a lot of money to Congress to maintain the status quo. The NE (Vermont etc.) wants to keep their inefficient small dairy farms in business. So we all pay the price for that. Oct. 16 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said he is pushing the Environmental Protection Agency to raise the amount of ethanol allowed in gasoline as the deadline for a decision nears.Science indicates that a higher “blend wall” is safe for automobile engines, Vilsack said yesterday in an interview at a conference on global hunger in Des Moines, Iowa. Increasing production of ethanol, made from corn in the U.S., would also meet national goals of energy independence and aid the industry as it attempts to expand.“We will continue to publicly advocate an increase, and privately advocate,” Vilsack said. “Our hope is they understand the significance of this decision as it relates to the future of the industry.”The U.S. biofuels industry is challenged by infrastructure limitations and a government-imposed limit, called a blend wall, that restricts to 10.2 percent the amount of ethanol that can be mixed with gasoline, the Government Accountability Office said this month in a report.An industry request to increase the ratio to 15 percent has encountered resistance from General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. The automakers say greater biofuels content may hurt engine performance and increase corrosion. The EPA has delayed a ruling on the request until December.Antitrust ComplaintsOn another topic, Vilsack said that antitrust complaints raised against large agribusiness companies are partly a sign of difficult economic times.“Whenever there is financial difficulty and stress, it causes you to examine every aspect of the why, how and cost of the financial stress we feel,” he said. “Lots of things are on the table that in times of plenty may not be issues.”“When one company has a significant amount of control over a particular technology or crop, I think it’s appropriate” to ask whether market power is being wielded unfairly, he said.Dean Foods Co., the biggest U.S. milk-products maker, and the Dairy Farmers of America cooperative were sued by a group of dairy farmers last week for allegedly operating a monopoly in the northeastern U.S. Monsanto Co., the world’s largest seed producer, the same day received questions from the Justice Department related to anti-competition complaints made by DuPont Co. in a lawsuit.The USDA and the Justice Department in August said they would conduct a series of workshops on competition in agriculture, starting next year.

[star_deceiver]

So how exactly will the automakers be getting their 35mpg avg. fuel economy thats coming with an inherintly inferior fuel??? There's gonna be some big trucks with some small engines... or a bigger gas guzzler charge!

[jake75]

The avg. fuel economy numbers are calculated using gasoline - if the car makes that number on gasoline that is o.k. It's just that when we have no choice but to use an 85/15 gas/alcohol blend we won't be getting those mpg. It is my understanding that the Govt no longer even requires that we be informed that the gasoline we buy is really gasohol. I think that is a rip off - we are being sold what is essentially watered down fuel.At the same time the National Weights and Measures Association members are thinking about mandating temperature compensated dispensing equipment that will add a lot of cost that will surely be passed on to consumers. The energy difference between gasoline and gasohol is a lot more than the volume difference between gasoline dispensed at 70 degrees vs. 50 degrees. All underground tanks in the same geographical area will be about the same temp. All they need to do to avoid cheating is to crack down on those few stations who are using above ground tanks painted black to heat up and thereby expand the gasoline.

[star_deceiver]

Addressing Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Transportation and Increasing Innovation•Implement a five per cent average renewable fuel standard for diesel by 2010 to help reduce emissions and advance the domestic renewable fuel industry.•Support the federal action of increasing the ethanol content of gasoline to five per cent by 2010 and adopt quality parameters for all renewable fuels and fuel blends that are appropriate for Canadian weather conditions in cooperation with North American jurisdictions.•Develop a leading hydrogen economy by continuing to support the Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Strategy for British Columbia.•Establish a new, harmonized regulatory framework by 2010 for hydrogen by working with governments, industry and hydrogen alliances.BC gas currently has about 1% ethanol at the moment, but we too are heading the wrong way down the gasoline highway!