As a more upbeat follow-up to our last discussion of ethanol in the Golden State, there is this news item about how ethanol and biodiesel availability is expanding in California.
OAKLAND, CA–(Marketwire – August 31, 2010) – At a grand opening event today at the Bay Area’s newest renewable fuel station, California Energy Commissioner Anthony Eggert, Director of California Governor Schwarzenegger’s Office of Economic Development (GoED) Joel Ayala, and officials from Propel Fuels, CALSTART, and East Bay Clean Cities, formally launched Propel’s Bay Area operations, which will include more than 20 stations across the Bay, with up to 10 open by the year’s end. The event also announced a $10.9 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and California Energy Commission (CEC) to build and operate 75 retail renewable fuel stations throughout California over the next two years.
Is there a full moon out or what? In my normal course of scanning news, web sites and blogs for information I discovered a veritable trifecta of absurdity regarding petroleum the other day.
My favorite article had to be about a new study arguing that eliminating federal tax deductions for intangible drilling costs and for US oil and gas production expenses would hurt oil production growth and devastate future US natural gas development.
The Wood Mackenzie study was commissioned by none other than the American Petroleum Institute. (nod, nod, wink, wink). Aren’t these the same companies (foreign & domestic) who were raking it in hand over fist from 2003 to 2008 and making record profits?
We have seen repeatedly that domestic oil price shocks are a result of refining and distribution problems more than even supply. Mix that in with inadequate competition in the oil industry and an ample dose of bad energy policy and you get a real mess. Maybe this is why the petroleum giants have tried repeatedly to discredit the performance and viability of ethanol.
This might go a long way toward explaining why they have so energetically fought against “tax incentives for blending ethanol” that actually go the ethanol blender…once again oil. Forgoing short term gain for long term profit is not a new concept. It also would explain their reaction to the current effort to raise the amount of ethanol in a gallon of gasoline.
Increased ethanol demand cuts into petroleum’s profits and their ability to manipulate the market. The economic impact of being able to control a product we are addicted to from cradle to grave is heady and lucrative stuff. (more…)
We are officially in the dog days of summer and as such many people are vacationing and that often means lots of driving and time with family.
With all the exposure to gas stations you may have noticed the word ethanol on pumps. It is pretty much everywhere these days as a 10% blend in gasoline and it is increasingly showing up in E85 formulations for flexible fuel vehicles or FFVs.
In fact, GM recently announced their continued commitment to E85 ethanol as “our best near-term solution. In fact, last month, we announced that we’re increasing annual production of Flex Fuel Vehicles (FFV) to more than 850,000 – that’s a 55 percent increase from the 2006 volumes,” said Candance Wheeler, a Gm Technical Fellow.
GM’s 2010 lineup represents the most FFV models on the market, providing drivers with multiple options to fuel their vehicles – E85 ethanol, petroleum, or a combination of the two. And with many new stations opening up, especially in the south and south central regions, it’s becoming easier find a place to fill up.
The latest development is something called a “Blender Pump,” but I like to call it a consumer pump because it allows you to choose what gas or ethanol mixture you want; unleaded gasoline, or 10%, 20%, 30% or 85% ethanol. If you have an FFV you can pick whichever one is the best bargain or whichever blend works best in your car.
Despite all for proven benefits of ethanol some detractors continue to spread misinformation regarding ethanol fuel. As the attached charts show, ethanol is a great fuel and an even better idea if you believe we should rely more on farmers and less on imported oil from hostile nations.
This past weekend the family and I drove about 1200 miles, leaving the St. Louis area to visit family in Lake Zurich, Ill., and then driving down to Ft. Campbell in Kentucky to drop our son off at his barracks. Then back home. About 1200 miles in all, the vast majority in Illinois, where the corn was growing tall and straight, for the most part. Illinois saw the highest increase in planted acres, according to the USDA, up from 12 million acres in 2009 to 12.6 million acres in 2010. Great news for our hard-working Illinois corn growers!
I also saw a lot of cars with Flex-Fuel logos on the back, and wished we had the same with our 2006 Toyota Sienna. But that was not an option.
This past weekend, Robert Zubrin wrote a great piece in the Washington Times calling for open fuel standards. The idea is to get more cars on the road that can handle a variety of fuels, whether it foreign-oil-based gasoline, domestic-and-renewable corn ethanol, or even methanol. This would add about a hundred bucks to the price of the car and give us more energy independence, which means more energy security.
As Zubrin puts it:
“We are not addicted to oil. Our cars are addicted to oil. They are like a tribe of people who, because of some unfortunate flaw, can only eat one kind of food, say herring. Thus, if the herring merchants combine to rig up the price of their product to $100 per pound, the tribesmen have no choice but to submit. They would be far better off if they could become omnivores, capable of eating steak, ice cream, corn, eggs, apples, etc., as the power to use such alternatives would make them immune from herring-cartel extortion.”
It’s time to see more energy freedom on the roads — not just in the Corn Belt, but across the Land of the Free.
Photo: Zubrin autographs his book “Energy Victory” at the 2009 Commodity Classic.
Apparently, last week’s International Energy Agency (IEA) numbers regarding future oil supplies were fudged to protect the innocent or at least our frail economic recovery. According to a whistleblower who whispered in the ear of The Guardian, the world is much closer to running out of oil that we think.
So, what is to be gained or lost by such skullduggery? Stockbrokers, bankers and oil investors jumping out of windows…sure, but what is the downside? (Insert sarcasm here).
The comments in the UK’s respected Guardian stated that the IEA has inflated its 2009 report of oil reserves for fear that the truth would shock world markets into a reactionary panic. IEA is alleged to have put its role as an industry watchdog in the kennel for the time being to fend off a potential buying panic…even at the risk of being exposed for overplaying supplies and chances for finding increased reserves.
On face value this might seem to be based on at least a modicum of twisted logic, but what are the ramifications for world governments who govern, plan and even invest based on IEA’s data? Consider that they also develop their own energy policies based on such essential information.
According to the Guardian’s high-level IEA source, estimates of global oil production growing from its current level of 83 million barrels per day to 105 million barrels per day are as bogus as the Tooth Fairy. The source said many IEA officials believe even 90 million barrels per day is unreachable, but the agency will not lower its forecast because it fears panic could spread through financial markets.
If we have indeed entered the “Peak Oil Zone” (that strange and unfamiliar place where we actually feel the pressure to get real about “energy policy” not oil policy) then it is time to fess up like an alcoholic at an AA meeting. “Hi my name is Joe Consumer and I have a petroleum problem.” (more…)
Wisconsin’s corn ethanol industry is putting on the green and walking for clean air at Milwaukee’s annual Lung Walk October 4 at the Milwaukee County Zoo and is offering free Green Team T-shirts to everyone who joins them.
“The Lung Walk at the Milwaukee County Zoo is a great family event for a worthwhile cause that calls attention to the need for cleaner air and corn-based E85 ethanol fuel is recognized as the Clean Air Choice of the American Lung Association,” says Team Captain Nancy Kavazanjian, a corn grower from Beaver Dam. “Walking as the Green E85 Team is the perfect way to show people that our locally grown and produced ethanol fuel is helping clean up Wisconsin’s air quality while it also helps boost the state economy.”
The walk is a major fund-raising event that helps the ALA, the oldest nationwide voluntary health agency in the United States, fight lung disease through education, community service, public policy and research. As part of the year’s promotional efforts supported by Wisconsin’s corn checkoff, the Wisconsin Corn Promotion Board is the official sponsor of the Lung Walk’s Green E85 Team and paid for the commemorative T-shirts shirts for all team members. Badger State Ethanol, Didion Ethanol, United Ethanol and the UWGP ethanol plant, along with several individual corn growers made major donations to the Green E85 Team effort, helping meet the team fund raising goal of $1,500.
The Market Development Team of the Renewable Fuels Association stands near one of their banners during the 2009 Sturgis Rally at the Legendary Buffalo Chip Campground, just East of Sturgis, SD. www.ChooseEthanol.com
Thousands of Harley motorcycle riders from across the nation got an education on corn-based ethanol last week as Robert White and other representatives of the Renewable Fuels Association participated in the popular event known as Sturgis.
The effort to reach out to small engine and motorcycle enthusiasts about ethanol proved wildly successful with an estimated 500,000 consumers touched by the project.
T-shirts, information cards and good old fashioned face-to-face promotion provided ample opportunities to discuss the benefits of using a homegrown fuel. The key points being that it is a domestic product, it is cleaner-burning and it is made from renewable sources.
“We also had 25 static displays, which encouraged riders to, “Ride Safe, Fuel Right.” The event also provided a backdrop to launch a Sturgis Photo Contest at www.e85challenge.com, where riders can win $1,000 for submitting their favorite rally photo. Each night concert goers were able to see ethanol information on the jumbotrons during such acts as Toby Keith and Aerosmith,” White said.
“A cross-section of America attends this event and they shared something in common besides Harley motorcycles. They believed that having a renewable fuel like ethanol that is available today and can safely be used in their motorcycles is important,” he said.
Congratulations from the nation’s corn growers on this great effort.
If you are looking for yet another reason why U.S. consumers should demand more aggressive action on the development of domestic fuels like ethanol it came out today with energy news from Texas.
Once a huge contributor to the nation’s energy needs, its contributions are in decline. In fact, the drilling rig count in Texas is down to 329 from 958 in August 2008, and employment dropped from 240,000 to 206,200.
Need more evidence? Oil production in Mexico has declined 12.8% in just one year, led by decline in heavy crude of 24,000b/d from April 182,000b/d from May 2008.
China’s oil demand up for 3rd month in June as latest data adds evidence that growth is resuming in the world’s second-biggest oil consumer. Chinese steel producers, which are energy intensive, are now operating at full capacity too so China may be on the verge of setting off another run-up in world oil prices.
Did anyone not see this coming? If we were playing Jeopardy the answer would be: “What are death, taxes, and higher gasoline prices?” Question: What are three things you can’t avoid? Unless of course we embrace alternative solutions like renewable ethanol.
Like a good magician practicing sleight of hand Big Oil and other ethanol critics like the Grocery Manufacturers Association wave one hand around with a flourish to get our attention, while the other lifts our wallet. Thus the steady drumbeat of ethanol costs more, even though in a normal economy it costs less than gas; ethanol is energy deficient, even though redundant studies have proven a 60% net energy gain; ethanol raises food prices, even though there is little direct correlation and evidence to the contrary. I think you get the idea.
So it is high time for ethanol supporters to stop being defensive and using up all of our valuable energy putting out fires and defending the critic of the moment. Perhaps we should start reminding the public of the reasons we turned to ethanol to begin with: it burns far cleaner than gasoline, it works in today’s cars, it creates U.S. jobs and generates real economic activity, it isn’t imported from unfriendly nations, and of course it comes from corn which is abundant and yields are growing rapidly.
Unlike petroleum which is finite, ethanol has a future. With corn growers producing five times more corn today than they did in the 1930’s – and this before we had mapped the corn genome – so we are just beginning to unwrap the potential of maize. And the beauty of ethanol is many kinds of plant material will make continued production expansion possible in the years ahead.
So, let’s start our own drumbeat which demands higher mileage vehicles, one that demands all vehicles be flex fuel capable, one that calls for higher ethanol blends and rewards further development of alternative fuel engine technology, and one that exposes the real costs of our continued reliance on imported petroleum for 60% of our oil needs.
Let’s all raise our voices and ask for a thorough accounting of all costs related to finding, developing, refining, transporting and defending our access to petroleum. Let’s add on environmental costs and the big one that nobody wants to talk about…health costs. Medical costs related to poor air quality boggle the mind, just ask your local Lung Association.
Here is an example of a hidden cost to get your thought process going. Just this year alone, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will spend $200 million to clean-up leaky underground storage tanks for petroleum. This program has been going on since 1985 and there are approximately 617,000 underground storage tanks (USTs) nationwide that store petroleum or hazardous substances.
With a little transparency from the Big Oil guys and some thorough detective work by the Congressional Research Service, I think we would rapidly see what a bargain ethanol is today.
Motorists in Grand Island, Nebraska now have a range of choices at the pump when it comes to ethanol blended gasoline, thanks to help from the Nebraska Corn Board.
Six ethanol blender pumps were unveiled last week providing flexible-fuel vehicle owners with the option of using E85, E30, E20 or the traditional E10 blend of gasoline. “If you drive a flex-fuel vehicle, you don’t have to fill up with E85 all the time,” said Jon Holzfaster, chairman of the Nebraska Corn Board. “You can choose your ethanol blend based on price, performance and availability. That’s why they’re called ‘flexible.”
Higher blends of ethanol are key to realizing the full benefits of this domestically produced, renewable fuel, Holzfaster said. “The more flex fuel vehicles we have—and the higher blends of ethanol available across the nation—the more we generate economic strength for Nebraska and our entire nation, reduce our expensive and dangerous dependence on imported oil, and improve our environment,” said Holzfaster.
A computer sensor automatically compensates for varying levels of ethanol in the gasoline. The pumps were installed at the Bosselman’s station on Allen Drive in Grand Island. Bosselman’s plans to install more blender pumps in the state, with the next planned for stores at Ainsworth and Chappell.
As a more upbeat follow-up to our last discussion of ethanol in the Golden State, there is this news item about how ethanol and biodiesel availability is expanding in California.
Apparently, last week’s International Energy Agency (IEA) numbers regarding future oil supplies were fudged to protect the innocent or at least our frail economic recovery. According to a whistleblower who whispered in the ear of The Guardian, the world is much closer to running out of oil that we think.
If you are looking for yet another reason why U.S. consumers should demand more aggressive action on the development of domestic fuels like ethanol it came out today with energy news from Texas.
Motorists in Grand Island, Nebraska now have a range of choices at the pump when it comes to ethanol blended gasoline, thanks to help from the Nebraska Corn Board.