more ethanol on the way

[98valk]

So last Thursday, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt duly sent a letter to corn-state senators assuring them his agency would support the Renewable Fuel Standard by requiring refiners in 2018 to blend in 19.24 billion gallons of biofuels into the nation's fuel supply. This mandate fits nicely on a glide path to 36 billion gallons of biofuels blended into transport fuel supply by 2022 set out in 2007 by the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA).

When EISA was adopted, the price of oil was $90 per barrel on its way to peaking at over $130 per barrel by the end of the following year. U.S. petroleum production had fallen to about 5 million barrels per day and the country was importing about 14 million barrels per day.

As the result of the fracking revolution, U.S. oil production was around 9.4 million barrels per day this past year, and imports were about 10 million barrels per day. A barrel of oil sells at around $60.

Despite the sea change in the industry, the ethanol mandate lives on, never mind that it burns up 40 percent the U.S. corn crop and requires the plowing up of 36 million additional acres of land, the size of the entire state of Iowa.

In addition, a 2015 study in the Energy Journal calculated that the renewable fuel standard doesn't even reduce the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by the transportation sector. By one calculation, the complicated way that the RFS mandate is applied drives up refinery costs by as much $15 billion. Of course, drivers must pay more at the pump to cover that expense.

http://reason.com/blog/2017/10/30/trumps-epa-feeds-the-ethanol-swamp-dwell

[ridingron]

    ... Of course, drivers must pay more at the pump to cover that expense.

If it all stop today, I doubt the price of gas would go down.

[cookiedough]

I do not buy into e10 or e15 and especially e85 gas.  I can tolerate 10% ethanol, but NO more, it is bad for engines/seals requiring more upkeep in the long run and more frequent oil changes in vehicles.    There is an ethanol plant nearby me producing that stuff and tried E85 a few times in my e85 truck and it sucked horribly.  hard upshifts, ran like crap more than once, and 25-30% reduction in fuel economy with the price difference not even close nowadyas to 30% cheaper to make it a beneficial purchase, why bother using it then?  13 mpg vs. 17 is dumb to even consider using e85. 

[ccscootlund]

Excellent perspective, Vaquero, and well stated.
 It seems that even with a "new" man in office, We The People are still paying the price of living in the matrix. I doubt that anything will change.
Not only is it a WASTE of food producing acreage, it ruins engines and gas mileage. It will continue to be forced upon the complaining public as long as those with power whore themselves out to the U.N. agendas that create the situation(e.g.: Agenda21)
This will NOT make America "great" again, no matter WHAT the propaganda says to the contrary.  

[0leman]

I agree that it is stupid to continue this practice of putting food in our tanks.  BUT, there is a group of corn producing states that are for it.  Very influential states that are blocking the stopping of this practice.  So it will continue till their people speak up and redirect them.

[Jersey]

The use of Ethanol isn't good for engines, as stated well by other posters here and countless discussions elsewhere.  I'm sure the factual statistics clearly show this is a bad practice.  However, this administration's inability to apply basic critical thinking skills or make fact-based decisions will likely not change any of these rules.  I hate ethanol fuels and spend way to much money and effort trying to compensate for the ill effects.

[pago cruiser]

+100.
I am f'ing tired of having to rebuild carbs after a bike sits a few too many months and the ethanol turns to goo.

Currently, my Valk Hack is running ok - but I cannot start it when cold.  When I rebuilt the carbs  just b4 our last trip (the bike sat 4 months as I was working on other things), I forgot the choke circuit;  now have to start with starting fluid when cold.  Have to pull it apart again.

Have a few other bikes all down for carb rebuild.  Which reminds me - the ST1100 has not been exercised since August - need to get it out this weekend.

FI units seem to fare better, as the carb bowls are not vented to atmosphere. 

Asshats.

Who do I bill for the time and expense to deal with this mandated crap???
 

[MarkT]

FYI if you don't already do this:  I've had good results running a big dose of Berryman's B12 to wash out the goo.  Example, I let Deerslayer sit for 18 months while running my other bikes.  It had another problem (battery) so I just put it off.  Knowing I would be sorry and it was too late now I'm going to have to do a major carb job on it.  Yeah it had some Seafoam in the gas but that is no question abuse.  I put in most of a can of B12 with only a gallon or so of fresh gas.  It fired right up and gave no indication of problems.  In fact runs a bit better than my daily rider which runs well. I hear all these reports of ethanol gumming up stuff but I'm not experiencing it myself.  Maybe because I use Seafoam in stored gas, religiously. I did lose a weed wacker from that.  I'm guessing my chain saw is going to be a problem also.  My poor Exploder is the victim when I need to use up old gas. Now they require an emissions test to register next time.  My mechanic says, you can beat that with a fresh oil and filter change, a BIG dose of ethanol, and overinflate the tires.  Passed 2 years ago with that, and it has maybe a thousand miles on it since then - I avoid using it. To the store every couple weeks to scrub the rust off the brakes.  Gonna have to drive it to use up almost all of the gas, put in some fresh but not too much so I can add a bunch of alcohol to pass the test. I'm not sinking a lot of money in this old truck due to Obama.

[indybobm]

MarkT, just curious,  how does over inflating the tires help? Is it on a dyno?

To combat ethanal, I use 1 oz. of Lucas Ethanol Fuel Treatment with every fill up with a bigger dose when I park it for awhile.
I also use a couple of ounces of B12 every third tank of gas during the summer.

[MarkT]

They put it on rollers I assume with a brake on it - probably like a dyno.  To run it at highway speed with a load on it.  Not sure why that helps but my mechanic said do it so I do.  Pretty sure the big things are, fresh oil and esp a big dose of oxygenating ethanol.  All I have to do is pass the three metrics they use and the gas cap test - then a half mile down the road stop and gas up to dilute the ethanol and lower the tire pressure.  For the test, 20% ethanol, tires at 48#.  HC limit, 1.2 GPM, reading .089; CO limit 15.0 GPM, reading 0.8509; NOX limit 3.0 reading 1.8228.  CO2 no limit listed.  This with a 20 yr old vehicle, 138k miles.  Failed the test 2 yrs previous, had to pay for work on it.  This time, passed with "flying colors".  With few miles since then - and with a Berryman's treatment and these tricks - expect it to pass again.  A manual VW paradigm.

I wouldn't be surprised if it was tuned leaner, or even ignition advanced a little, wouldn't also help.

[Valkorado]

I'm a believer in this stuff.  Great for winter storage, keeps the system clean and a little goes a long way.

http://www.starbrite.com/startron

https://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImages/1000/4a/4aa635a8-d629-49b4-bf29-744951edb169_1000.jpg

[98valk]

I prefer the new Stabil 360 with vapor technology. It emits a vapor to coat the exposed areas of the tank and upper parts of the carbs which are not submerged in fuel.

https://www.goldeagle.com/product/sta-bil-360-performance/

[oldsmokey]

I would gladly pay even a little more per gallon of real gas just to eliminate a lot of potential issues.  Even in the late 80s with the introduction of oxygenated fuels that was problematic on some components.
And just think ,, it just might lower the cost of cereal right?

[Paladin528]

Being from Canada I don't have to worry about this however, On my recent trip through the corn states I noticed that every station that sold corn fuel stated directly on the pump DO NOT USE IN ANY VEHICLE NOT DESIGNED TO USE THIS FUEL.
Pretty straight forward.  Any vehicle made since the mid 80's is designed for up to 10% ethanol.  Anything higher is asking for trouble.