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Ethanol bill

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Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5377 Posts

Initially Posted - 11/16/2013 : 18:14:57

I heard the tail end of a confusing (to me) news story on the radio about how the president and the oil companies were in agreement on a new bill regarding ethanol. Short on details, the article mentioned that oil consumption was going down, oil prices are going down, ethanol consumption prediction exceed demand (glut), and the current 2013 corn crop exceeded expectations so prices are depressed following 2012's shortage.
While all signs pointed toward more ethanol in gasoline, I did not get the whole story. What I thought they were saying is that the bill would allow oil companies to mix in any proportion of ethanol in gasoline.
If this were the case, that would be catastrophic for our outboards. Did anyone else hear about this bill?

Bruce Ross
Passage ~ SR-FK ~ C25 #5032

Port Captain � Milford, CT

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TakeFive
Master Marine Consultant

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2272 Posts

Response Posted - 11/16/2013 : 20:33:47

I didn't hear the radio story.

But it was reported this week that the US exported more oil than it imported in October, for the first time since 1995. Much of what is causing this is the massive conversion of power plants and office building boilers to natural gas, which is so much more cheap and abundant due to fracking, for better or worse.

I've also read that declining gasoline sales is causing a problem for ethanol, since apparently the laws <s>lining the pockets of corporate farms</s> mandating its use set minimum ethanol targets based on ethanol volume, not percentage of gasoline. So if you sell less gasoline, the only way to meet the targets is stick more ethanol in the gas. I had heard that Congress would probably rewrite the law, but I am very skeptical that whatever they do will only enrich their friends and make any problems worse.

Edited by - TakeFive on 11/16/2013 20:34:34

Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5377 Posts

Response Posted - 11/16/2013 : 21:12:16

So shouldn't they just make more corn flakes, tortilla chips and corn oil margarine and give it poor kids and families who need food in places like the Philippines, Haiti and Detroit, instead of mucking up our cars' and boats' engines?

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TakeFive
Master Marine Consultant

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2272 Posts

Response Posted - 11/16/2013 : 21:42:10

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Voyager
 So shouldn't they just make more corn flakes, tortilla chips and corn oil margarine and give it poor kids and families who need food in places like the Philippines, Haiti and Detroit, instead of mucking up our cars' and boats' engines?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
I have real ethical concerns about diverting food that could feed the hungry to energy uses. Also, the processing of corn to ethanol is energy intensive, which means it releases a lot more carbon into the environment before you've even started to burn the fuel.

However, there is a broader issue here. As an octane enhancer, ethanol is pretty environmentally friendly compared to the alternatives. TEL was a horrible source of lead pollution. MTBE was touted as the ideal replacement, but leached out of storage tanks and destroyed aquifers for thousands of people. Compared to these things, ethanol is not too bad for many non-marine uses, but too much of a good thing (>10%) could be a really bad thing. But not enough politicians have the scientific background to realize this.

For marine uses, I know there are many who think ethanol is the root of all their problems. I have never personally had any problem traceable to ethanol on my sailboat or motor boat. But in both cases, I take pains to avoid moisture contamination, stabilize the fuel, and burn it off in my car if it gets more than 60 days old. I know that there are others who have fixed tanks with non-closable vents that can hold dozens of gallons of stale fuel, and therefore have a very difficult time managing ethanol. But for us who carry 3-6 gallon tanks of the stuff, my personal experience has been that ethanol has few negatives.

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Peregrine
Admiral

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830 Posts

Response Posted - 11/17/2013 : 09:59:42

Here is an article from the [url="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/11/15/the-u-s-is-hitting-its-ethanol-limit-so-the-epa-will-weaken-its-biofuels-rules/"]Washington Post[/url] looks at the EPA decision. It also addresses the harm done to engines.

Underlined words are a HOT link.

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Dave5041
Former Mainsheet Editor

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USA
3758 Posts

Response Posted - 11/17/2013 : 16:07:51

Excellent Article

Maybe EPA will prod us into butanol instead of ethanol. More energy per pound, less likely to phase separate, less corrosive, and it comes from wood pulp. Congress isn't likely to support it without pressure since farm subsidies are big favors. BoatUS and Mercury supported a pilot research study a year ago. It looks like good stuff.

Edited by - Dave5041 on 11/17/2013 16:09:09

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