New Ethanol Blends moving forward – Corn prices skyrocket

Earlier, it was reported that grants were being given out to install new gas pumps so we had the “option” of purchasing the 15% Ethanol blend. Today, it looks like they are going ahead without the pumps. Many States do not require posting the blend  on the pump, so here is one we we want to keep our eye on. So is the intention to destroy our engines? What sane person burns their food supply? Now 40% of our corn supply is going to this scam.

Earlier from  Gas Stations to get grants so we can burn our food

HaywardEconBlog:

What a way to start the day. I sit down with a nice cup of coffee and this gem pops out from the WSJ….Grants and subsidized loans to install new gas pumps so we can sell gasoline that has even more ethanol (E-85)  which everyone, but the ethanol lobby, believes is bad policy…How was this NOT low hanging budget fruit subject to cutting in the budget battle that went deep into the night?

The Secretary of Agriculture declined to say how much the program would cost because he did not know how many station owners (or oil companies) would take advantage of the program…Fair enough, I get that. But a better question for him from would have been how much has been budgeted for such a program.  THAT he should know.  Wish the reporter had asked that. OR better yet, a budget-cutting ELECTED official…Just sayin’…

I caught this story today in USA Today:

Officials at the Renewable Fuels Association, representing the ethanol industry, said ethanol fuels can be safely used in old cars if owners adapt the fuel systems with new parts. Thanks a bunch guys!

This year, the EPA approved allowing even more ethanol — a 15 percent mix. That proposal upset automakers and small-engine companies, who said that at 15 percent ethanol even newer cars and newer small engines would be damaged.

“We’re basing our concerns on the cars that are on the road today,” and on the corrosive effect that 15 percent-ethanol fuel could have on fuel pumps, fuel tanks, hoses and emissions parts, said Gloria Bergquist, vice president of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a trade group that includes the Detroit Three automakers and other manufacturers, including Toyota and Volkswagen. The alliance, along with other trade groups, sued the EPA in January to stop the introduction of E15.

Small-engine manufacturers are concerned about the effects on boat motors, chain saws and lawn mowers. Despite the lawsuit, the EPA approved the sale of E15, with labels, for vehicles made in model year 2001 and later.

Federal regulators leave it to the states to decide whether pumps must be labeled disclosing that they dispense fuel blended with E10 . About a dozen states don’t require ethanol labeling on gas pumps.

Association spokesman Matt Hartwig said the cost would “be minor in comparison to what (owners) would be willing to spend on the exterior of the car, for example.”  Thanks again guys. How do you know? USA Today

Meanwhile, we proceed to destory the world’s food supply: Robert Bryce writing in today’s Washington Examiner:

 

“Today, about 40 percent of all U.S. corn — that’s 15 percent of global corn production or 5 percent of all global grain — is diverted into the corn ethanol scam in order to produce the energy equivalent of about 0.6 percent of global oil needs. 

Corn prices, now close to $7 per bushel, have more than doubled over the past two years (see chart above). And recent harsh weather, including floods in the Midwest and drought in the South, will likely mean a subpar U.S. corn harvest. That, in turn, will mean yet higher prices for corn, which will translate into higher prices for meat, milk, eggs, cheese and other commodities.

“Livestock producers, restaurants, food manufacturers and consumers at the grocery store are all being penalized by this profligate biofuel policy,” said Bill Lapp, president of Advanced Economic Solutions, an Omaha, Neb., commodity consulting firm.” Carpe Diem