What's the Over/Under on the Ethanol Mandate?
By Vladimir Posted in Alternative Fuels | Energy | Ethanol | Scam — Comments (21) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
How long will our crazy rush to corn-based ethanol last?
Environmentalists don't seem to like it; it takes too much water to grow and process, and it doesn't help with the global warming bit. It seems to be an inefficient and nasty fuel, when you get down and deal with the practicalities of it.
Now ADM is playing defense:
Archer Daniels defends ethanol in wake of rising food costs
The Decatur, Ill.-based agriculture company is the country's largest ethanol producer, spending millions of dollars on production facilities. At the same time, the industry benefited from about $3.2 billion in federal tax breaks last year, the biggest energy-related tax break ever, according to an April report from the Energy Information Administration.
Biofuel is made from the same grains that people eat and feed to their livestock. With the price of grain sharply higher this year, many are now questioning whether subsidizing the ethanol industry is really in the country's best interest.
But food costs are being driven primarily by higher energy costs, said Archer Daniels Chairman and Chief Executive Patricia Woertz, which is the result of a tight energy supply -- not increased biofuel production.
{Huh? From a pro-ethanol website: "As of the end of 2007, roughly 20 to 25 percent of our corn crop was used for making ethanol, yet this displaced less than 3 percent of the gasoline we used for our cars and trucks." And that hasn't changed the price of corn?}
Back at ADM:
Further, a pullback of U.S. government subsidies to the industry would be "wrong, it's foolish, I think it's dangerous, I think it's a mistake," Woertz said.
"Retreat from biofuels is just an empty gesture," she said. "That won't fill anybody's stomach and won't fill anybody's gas tanks."
The nascent biofuel industry has spent millions lobbying for greater U.S. support, culminating in President George W. Bush's declaration in his 2006 State of the Union Address that biofuel will be an important step towards achieving national energy independence.
Archer Daniels Midland contributed more than $700,000 toward lobbying the federal government in 2007, according to filings provided through the Lobbying Disclosure Act.
Peak Oil Panic
Irwin M. Stelzer, The Weekly Standard, April 29, 2008We might have reached the age of peak panic about oil supplies, but not of peak oil. One thing we think we know about the oil business is correct. High oil prices and the greenhouse gasses produced by using oil have important geopolitical consequences. These $100+ prices have led to a massive flow of wealth, and hence power, from consuming to producing countries.
If oil were still priced at $20 or even $40 per barrel Russia would not have the wherewithal to revert to its bullying foreign policy, and America's banks would not be going hats-in-hand to Arab capitals in search of new capital.
If gasoline prices had not closed in on $4 per gallon in the United States, thousands of SUVs and small trucks would not be sitting, unsold and unloved, on dealers' lots.
If oil had not pierced the $100 per barrel level, and was not seen as a pollutant, the current enthusiasm for super-expensive nuclear power would not have reached a fever pitch.
And if oil did not produce so-called greenhouse gasses when propelling cars and heating homes, there would be no massive subsidies for ethanol production, acreage would not be diverted from growing food to growing fuel, and the current run-up in food prices would be less steep, and food riots would not be breaking out around the world.
So oil indeed matters. But not in the ways we most often think.
Irwin M. Stelzer, is director of economic policy studies at the Hudson Institute, and a columnist for the Sunday Times (London).
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
Than all the proven reserves to date
Any idea when we get a well Vlad ?
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
Ha, ha, ha. I thought you were talking about the Bakken Shale, last week's End of the Energy Crisis.
Titan is so two weeks ago.
There is more stupidity than hydrogen in the universe, and it has a longer shelf life. - Frank Zappa
I can just see the Exxon Deathstar.
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
for exterminating the Dinosaurs of Titan? Space Ghost?
I'm from Oklahoma and I remember the 1973 Arab oil embargo vividly.
Oil folks have been predicting this day would come for the last 35 years. Our politicians, God bless 'em, have steadfastly ignored the issue and have avoided adopting any meaningful energy policy that would wean us off the Saudi sugar teat, especially when energy was cheap.
Oil prices were artificially low for the entire period 1984-2004 and we all became addicted, addicted to SUV's, travelling in comfort, driving over 55 mph, and living 50 miles from work. (By the way, what's your form of locomotion?)
The article you quote is full of if, if, if. Damned if I get the point. It is precisely high prices and the resulting economic discomfort that will force us to adopt one of the technologies you support -- but the market place should and will pick the appropriate one(s).
In the meantime, while we make the transition, we're still going to need plenty of oil.
"And if oil did not produce so-called greenhouse gasses when propelling cars and heating homes, there would be no massive subsidies for ethanol production..."Pssst - ethanol is not a greenhouse gas strategy. It's an alternative fuel strategy, and a strategy to put ADM and Cargill into the motor fuel business on the taxpayer nickel. ANd an Iowa-vote-buying strategy.
There is more stupidity than hydrogen in the universe, and it has a longer shelf life. - Frank Zappa
1. At least the Pentagon had the good sense to begin the shift to alternatives well before today. But all reason and the logic in the world won't help us when some in the GOP erroneously portray alternative energy as a wrong-headed policy unique to Liberalism & the Democratic Party.
2. And you're right about the market picking winners and losers. Detroit, unfortunately, didn't believe in the compact and subcompact market - nor did they believe Japanese auto manufacturers could produce a truck Joe America would actually buy. Sadly, Detroit's losing wager has cost the entire nation much more than bragging rights.
3. I drive a 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid and get between 40 - 45 mpg, depending on how fast I drive on the highway ;)
4. We (humanity) have technologies to decrease our reliance on oil right now - just don't expect Detroit or Washington DC to lead the initiative.
5. Ethanol's best chance will come from plant cellulose - using corn stalks instead of corn kernels.
"Austere, intolerant, well-armed, and blood-thirsty, in their own regions the Wahhabis are a distinct factor which must be taken into account" - Winston Churchill, 1921
solve the problem:
nuclear
clean coal burning plants
liquified coal for vehicles
The three above could actually solve the problem. Instead, liberals focus on what does not solve the problem.
Wind
Solar
Hydro
Geo-thermal
These are nice, but they cannot become our staple energy sources in the near to medium future.
The government dropped plans to build a p[ilot plant because commercially available technology was better than what they planned to build. Now they plan to just support several commrcial plants under construction.
Air Force Base Goes Solar; Nukes Next?
Wired November 2, 2007
North America's largest solar energy plant just went online at Nellis Air Force Base. The 140-acre, 15-megawatt plant is expected to save the base and the surrounding community about a million bucks a year. And it's just the "first step in a new initiative to host private alternative energy producers on its bases across the country," according to Inside the Air Force. The Air Force already has a 2.7 megawatt wind farm that provides 4,600 megawatt hours of electricity per year at its facility on Ascension Island in the South Atlantic and a 1.3 megawatt wind farm at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, WY, that provides enough energy to power approximately 520 households... Several smaller solar arrays are also operating at Fresno Air National Guard Base, CA, and Luke Air Force Base, AZ. The service also is using geothermal- and biomass-generated power at bases in Utah, Nebraska and Missouri.
Solar Array Generates More Than Power
Army News Service, January 18, 2008
Officials cut the ribbon Monday on the Army's largest solar array, a 2-megawatt system at Fort Carson that should produce enough power for 540 homes. Col. Eugene Smith, Fort Carson garrison commander, said the long-term energy goal for Fort Carson is to sustain all facility mobility systems from renewable sources by 2027. Construction of the ground-mounted solar photovoltaic array was completed in December. It was built on 12 acres of landfill and the solar panels are expected to produce power for 40 years.
FIU, military team up to build solar-powered clinic
Miami Herald, April 29, 2008
Researchers from Florida International University are working with U.S. military planners to develop a makeshift mobile hospital that runs completely on solar power, can purify or desalinate up to 400 gallons of water per day and can treat dozens of people who consider electricity a luxury. The project began a test run recently in the Honduran jungle. If successful, the self-sustaining tentlike structure could become a model for the U.S. military and American emergency response teams to set up field operations in remote locations.
Army Unveils First Hybrid-Electric Propulsion System for New Combat Vehicles
Army.mil, Aug 15, 2007
The Army today unveiled its first hybrid-electric propulsion system for a new fleet of Manned Ground Vehicles (MGVs) -- eight variants for 15 Future Combat Systems Brigade Combat Teams (FCS BCTs) ... The Army is using hybrid-electric power because the more modern FCS BCTs have much greater electrical power requirements than the current-force Heavy BCTs. An ancillary benefit of the hybrid-electric vehicles is improved fuel economy and less reliance on oil, natural gas, and other fossil fuels. The Army has long been at the forefront of developing hybrid-electric vehicles. In fact, the Army's hybrid-electric vehicles are significantly more robust and more powerful than commercial hybrid vehicles. The first hybrid-electric MGV variant, the Non-Line-of-Sight Cannon (NLOS-C), will commence production in late 2008.
"Austere, intolerant, well-armed, and blood-thirsty, in their own regions the Wahhabis are a distinct factor which must be taken into account" - Winston Churchill, 1921
Before posting these ?
Or at least looking at other than the puff pieces ?
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2007/11/air-force-base-.html
"To the alt-energy array, the Air Force is thinking about adding a controversial component: nuclear power.
If built, the first "facility would be a small test plant, used to investigate the feasibility of powering military installations with nuclear energy," according to a separate Inside the Air Force story. "
"The Army is using hybrid-electric power because the more modern FCS BCTs have much greater electrical power requirements than the current-force Heavy BCTs"
"makeshift mobile hospital "
What you are seeing is a beautiful green future. What the military is doing is solving its logistics problem.
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
What you are seeing is a beautiful green future. What the military is doing is solving its logistics problem.
Efficiency is green; environmental and economical.
"Austere, intolerant, well-armed, and blood-thirsty, in their own regions the Wahhabis are a distinct factor which must be taken into account" - Winston Churchill, 1921
Fine when people start shooting at me on the way to the gas pump, the water well and the grocery store, I'll go green.
At that point for me as it does for the military not having to take trips through hostile territory will make the alternatives profoundly economical.
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
0. Deregulation
1. Liability law reform.
2. Labor Law reform
3. Securities compliance law reform.
4. Tax reform.
What we don't need is the government helping in their usual fashion.
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
sugar cane that is genetically engineered to have the highest possible energy content.
for drinking, not in my gas tank.
Coal gasification- good old hydrocarbons. By the way, the plant that the Pentagon was touting was started in Northest Pennsylvania with a grant obtained by Sen Rick Santorum.
The plant in NE PA was to convrt coal to diesel fuel.
on Sunday mornings ?
I am shooting for never.
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777