Re: Using E85 Yet ?
- From: "Evelyn Ruut" <evelyn.ruut@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 30 Oct 2007 07:37:31 -0400
"Old_Timer" wrote in message news:kd9di3d1sam2blpu199stgrbmi0o4knou3@xxxxxxxxxx
On Mon, 29 Oct 2007 18:27:37 -0500, High Miles <2Blues17@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
The popularity of E85 pushes demand for corn
A move to grain-based fuel supply is debated
October 28, 2007
BY CINDY WOJDYLA CAIN Staff Writer
Farmer Jim Robbins was riding high last week in a damp corn field near
Manhattan.
Robbins sat perched atop his massive combine as its red missile-shaped
teeth raked a field of corn, just a stone's throw from emerging
subdivisions.
Stalks were scraped into the combine's innards, and cobs shot into a
cylinder where the kernels were knocked off. Plant stalks and leaves
flew out the side of the combine where they wafted back to the ground.
It's a good year to be a corn farmer, said easy-going Peotone resident
Robbins, as he mowed through the field off Smith Road, just south of
Cedar Road. Corn prices and demand are both up. And the weather
cooperated this year, so there could be near record yields. High prices
and high yields don't always go together, so this is a blessing for the
farmers.
But as Robbins churned through the last part of his harvesting duties, a
debate was swirling around him and other corn farmers nationwide.
As more and more consumers around the country are filling their gas
tanks with E85, an alternative fuel made with 85 percent ethanol,
politicians and researchers are debating the wisdom of moving toward a
grain-based gas supply. Others worry the increasing demand for corn will
lead to a shortage around the world and higher food prices.
Though little, if any, corn grown in Will or Grundy counties is used to
produce ethanol, the nationwide demand for the grain-based fuel is
affecting prices, said Mark Schneidewind, manager of the Will County
Farm Bureau.
In 1980, the United States produced 175 million gallons of ethanol. Last
year, the total was 4.8 billion, according to the Washington, D.C.-based
Renewable Fuels Association.
As a result, area farmers planted more corn this year than ever before,
Schneidewind said. Things are going so well, "You almost have to pinch
yourself," he added. "It's going to be near a record for us in Will County."
The price of corn is about $3.60 a bushel, and farmers are reaping an
average of 180 bushels an acre, which is 30 or so bushels above average.
A year ago, corn was about $2.60 a bushel. In Will County, farmers
converted about 10 to 12 percent of their fields from other crops to corn.
"There is so much corn out there, the elevators have been shutting
earlier -- they can't handle it all," Schneidewind said. "They're all
filled up."
Most area corn is shipped overseas in cargo containers or down to Texas
to feed livestock. The ethanol processing plants are too far away from
Will County for corn grown here to wind up in gas tanks, Schneidewind
said. The closest ethanol plant is in Rochelle, which is about 70 miles
northwest.
Corn sent to ethanol refineries is fermented to extract the sugar to
make alcohol. Because the resulting grain alcohol is so corrosive, it
can't be sent through a pipeline. Instead, it has to go by truck or
train. That boosts transportation costs and makes geography a key
component of ethanol production.
There is hope an ethanol plant will be built in the region to make local
participation feasible. Schneidewind said about 35 to 40 area farmers
have invested in ethanol plant companies hoping to snare one for this area.
But ethanol plants proposed for this area appear to have evaporated. The
Joliet one may have been too close to a dense population, and the Dwight
site didn't have a good enough water source.
It's possible a plant will be built in Kankakee, Ford or Iroquois
counties some day, which would make trucking Will County corn to the
sites more economically feasible.
Ethanol drawbacks
With more and more corn being siphoned off for ethanol production
nationwide, some people worry that food prices -- especially for meat
and milk -- will escalate because it will be more expensive to feed
livestock.
"I don't see that as a major concern," Schneidewind countered.
He said only about a nickel of corn is in a box of cereal, for instance,
so corn price increases won't have that much of an effect on most food
products.
Meat prices might rise about 10 percent because of the corn price hike,
he acknowledged. But corn prices fluctuate every year and they haven't
really risen all that much through the decades.
"My grandpa sold corn 40 years ago for close to $3 a bushel,"
Schneidewind said.
Ethanol isn't the only factor that can push corn prices up. Drought can
have a big impact, making the grain worth $5 a bushel in bad years.
Officials with the Renewable Fuels Association say the rising cost of
oil, which surged past $90 a barrel on Friday, also increases food costs.
Food prices aren't the only concern with ethanol, however. The price of
ethanol has dropped while corn prices have risen, putting ethanol
refineries in a pinch.
The price of a gallon of pure ethanol fell from about $3.80 to $4.25 a
gallon to $1.80 to $2.20 a gallon, said Bill Shireman, executive vice
president for Frankfort-based Gas City gas station chain, which sells
E85. As a result, plans for some ethanol plants are reportedly being
delayed.
Fuel of the future?
While area farmers are reaping the benefits of the ethanol boom, the
debate continues on Capitol Hill and scientific circles as to whether
this is truly the fuel of the future.
The U.S. Senate recently approved a measure that would require 18
billion gallons of renewable fuels by 2016 and 36 billion gallons by
2022. But the House has yet to approve the measure.
Jan Kreider, a retired University of Colorado engineering professor,
recently published a study that said corn-based ethanol may not be the
answer. He and co-author Peter Curtiss concluded that corn-based ethanol
had a low potential to reduce oil imports.
The study said too much water and land mass would be needed to produce
enough corn to quench the country's thirst for fuel. Also, while ethanol
burns cleaner than oil in cars, the ethanol production process produces
a hefty amount of carbon dioxide emissions, when all of the diesel fuel
used to plant and harvest the corn and haul it to ethanol plants is
calculated.
"Such fuels are not the answer to global warming, they make it worse,"
according to the study.
But the search must continue for a new fuel source, the study concludes,
because there are only a couple of decades of light crude left at
current consumption rates.
Other studies have shown that E85 provides lower gas mileage. And while
ethanol is cheaper than gasoline in the Midwest, that's not the case in
other areas of the country.
Looking for alternatives
Researchers are trying to find alternative plants for ethanol production
that could negate some of the drawbacks, however. Brazil, for instance,
uses sugarcane for its ethanol production, said farmer Robbins.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign professors are studying
tropical maize and switchgrass as possible ethanol sources.
The research could lead to better and better ethanol products, said
Robbins, who is director of District 1 for the Illinois Corn Marketing
Board.
Auto manufacturers are producing better flexible fuel vehicles. Ford
plans to come out with a new Escape that will be a hybrid, flex fuel
combination, Robbins said. It will run on battery power in town and E85
on the highways.
Underwriter Laboratories recently approved E85 gas pumps, something that
will ease liability concerns of some of the "big box" companies that
sell gasoline, Robbins said.
"By this time next year, there could be twice as many E85 stations
available," he said.
Currently, one bushel of corn produces about 2.8 gallons of ethanol,
Robbins said.
"But it's going to be getting better and better," he said. "There are
new technologies coming out every day."
In the ethanol debate there are two very important advantages to
consider, Robbins said. First, corn is a renewable source of energy -- crude oil isn't, he said. Second, corn is something the United States
can control, and that, too, is not true of most of the petroleum reserves.
In a lifetime of farming in the Manhattan and Wilton Center areas,
Robbins said he has seen incredible advances. Years ago, it took a week
to harvest 80 acres of corn. Now he can harvest 80 acres in a day. Those
kinds of advances are coming for renewable fuels, he said.
When the well runs dry
If researchers find a plant material that is better suited than corn to
producing renewable fuels, Robbins said he wouldn't mind.
"I think corn is always going to be needed, because it's going to be
used for livestock feed," he said.
Something needs to be done to find alternative fuels, most everyone
involved in the debate agrees.
"At $90 a barrel, we're all looking for alternatives," Robbins said.
It's been several years since an employer provided me with a Flex-Fuel
automobile. Flex-Fuel meant that is was capable of running on
gasoline, E85 or any mixture thereof.
I was responsible for filling my own gas tank but was encouraged to
use the E85 (not at my cost, BTW). There was only one nearby gas
station that stocked the E85. I filled up there as often as it was
convenient to do so.
To satisfy my own curiosity I keep some records. On straight gasoline
the car got around 19 miles to the gallon. With E85 the mileage
dropped to approximately 13 MPG. The cost of the E85, at that time,
was considerably higher than the gasoline.
Old_Timer
Hi OT
In the current issue of "Fast Company" magazine, there is a man who adapted a Hummer to run at better than 100 mpg on biodiesel. He goes into great detail on exactly what he did. He claims there is absolutely no reason that Detroit couldn't manufacture cars and trucks to run exactly the same way. Problem is the limited availability of biodiesel, but that could be fixed easily enough. Gas stations around here sell gas, diesel, and even kerosene. Existing gas stations could carry the new fuel.
Corn, being used to make fuel, may sound good, but it is also driving up the price of beef, chicken, and pork, and even some fish. Corn is fed to these animals and higher prices for corn also increases the price of raising them. It will take away from land used to grow other crops as well, and raise prices on them.
There is a definite dark side to using corn for fuel.
--
Best Regards,
Evelyn
.
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