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[Steve_G]

The biggest hoax ever perpitrated on the American public is the viability of ethanol.  Today the president is due to sign the new energy bill which calls for 6 times the current what todays ethanol production is- by 2022.  If you think your bike doesn't run well now, just think what it will be like when you're forced to burn 20-30 percent ethanol in your bike!  Let's face it ethanol sucks.  The general cost of food has increased 50% in the last 4 years.  Much of it is due to using food (corn) for fuel.  Corn has gone from about $2 to $4 a bushel.  Our wonderful government sure comes up with some creative solutions.  I wonder if Peewee Herman is available to lead this country?  At least it would be entertaining! 

[LRebel]

You think this is bad....if Hillary gets elected you next scooter will have a solar powered electric motor   

[HogBreath]

I have no idea whether ethanol makes economic sense or not. I'll let the politicians argue about that. All I know is there definately will be more ethanol.

More ethanol means more corn. More corn means more grain storage. More grain storage means more chrome for me.

[JesterDecor]

I have no idea whether ethanol makes economic sense or not. I'll let the politicians argue about that. All I know is there definately will be more ethanol.

More ethanol means more corn. More corn means more grain storage. More grain storage means more chrome for me.

As long as ya stay within the budget!! 

[Fired00d]

I have no idea whether ethanol makes economic sense or not. I'll let the politicians argue about that. All I know is there definately will be more ethanol.

More ethanol means more corn. More corn means more grain storage. More grain storage means more chrome for me.

I'm disappointed I thought you were going to say more Mason Jars full of 'shine.

You really live in Kentucky??

 
Ride Safe,
Fired00d
 

[HogBreath]

I've seen the local farmers get paid to NOT plant a crop. I'm hoping they come up with a program to NOT Build Grain bins.

The first year I'd like to NOT build 5 medium size grain bins.
The second year, I'd like to NOT build 10 medium size grain bins.
If I continued the growing spurts, I'd guess by the time I'm 58 I could NOT be building enough grain bins I might retire.

[HogBreath]

I'm disappointed I thought you were going to say more Mason Jars full of 'shine.

You really live in Kentucky??

 
Ride Safe,
Fired00d
 

LOL..good one

[Steve_G]

I'm surprised that Nancy Palosi hasn't introduced legislation to prevent Boy Scouts from lighting farts at camp-outs!
It may be a small help against global warming, but shouldn't everyone be required to make SOME contribution?

[iski]

Ethanol gets poor mileage as compared to gasoline & it requires lots of energy to convert corn to ethanol.

So its an ideal federal program, creating lots of work whose net effect is negligible, along with the added whopping increase in food costs that are projected to continue.


We could just drill for the oil we already have ALL OVER the USA & refine that instead but noooooooooooo - apparently the pork barrel doesn't tip that way currently.

[grc]

Ethanol does not make economic sense as a vehicle fuel at this time.  It currently takes significantly more energy to produce a gallon of ethanol than you get back by burning it in an internal combustion engine, and even with government incentives it cannot come close to competing with gasoline in terms of price.  It has also been estimated that the amount of corn required to produce enough ethanol to fill the tank of your average SUV one time would supply a full years worth of calories for one human being if it was used as food rather than fuel.  As is the case with most things politicians get involved with, the benefits have been highly exaggerated while the disadvantages have been ignored and/or swept under the rug. 

There is no magic silver bullet that will eliminate our dependence on foreign oil, and I resent the fact that our politicians think we are all stupid enough to fall for this.  Sure, we need to start working on energy alternatives now rather than wait until there is no oil to be had.  We don't need the typical BS out of Washington, however, along with the programs that inevitably make a small number of folks filthy rich at the expense of the rest of us.

Jerry

[HogBreath]

I'm in a rural area and I make a living constructing agricultural and commercial grain handling storage tanks etc. The whole ethanol thing is very complex. I don't think anyone could possibly fully understand what is happening in the grain market. I am just barely smart enough to know that I don't understand. When Katrina hit New Orleans the facilities that ship grain overseas were shut down. This was 2 weeks before our local corn harvest started. When those facilities shut down, the river ports along the Mississippi river shut down, or lowered the price of corn to poverty levels. There was no place to ship the corn, so it was dumped on the dirt.

Illinois, Iowa and the big corn producing states are now looking at corn deficits due primarily to ethanol. They'll have to import corn from other states just to cover their needs. That has NEVER happened before. So, with demand, the price of corn goes up. More farmer's plant corn where they used to plant other crops. They go to a different crop rotation to grow more acres of corn. There's less soybeans than there was before so the price of soybeans goes up. The price of corn goes up and it makes ethanol less effective. Everyone wants cheap food, but, everyone wants to assist the farmer. Look at Willie Nelson and FarmAid. I say cheap food will win out.

If I was president, I'd fix it. I'd let supply and demand figure out the price of corn and the US government would have nothing to do with it. If we ran outta fuel, I'd send all of our boys over yonder and whip the hell outta them and take their oil. They'd push the button and millions of people would die, including me and I'd be responsible for WWIII. That won't work.

Seems to be a pretty delicate balance. I don't know the answers, if I did, I'd be rich in a year or two. Like the song says...TIMES...THEY ARE A-CHANGIN...Me, I just wanna be free to ride my machine. Biggest worry I have in life is my head gasket leak. Actually, that doesn't even bother me too much.

[Free]

Ethanol does not make economic sense as a vehicle fuel at this time.  It currently takes significantly more energy to produce a gallon of ethanol than you get back by burning it in an internal combustion engine, and even with government incentives it cannot come close to competing with gasoline in terms of price.  It has also been estimated that the amount of corn required to produce enough ethanol to fill the tank of your average SUV one time would supply a full years worth of calories for one human being if it was used as food rather than fuel.  As is the case with most things politicians get involved with, the benefits have been highly exaggerated while the disadvantages have been ignored and/or swept under the rug. 

There is no magic silver bullet that will eliminate our dependence on foreign oil, and I resent the fact that our politicians think we are all stupid enough to fall for this.  Sure, we need to start working on energy alternatives now rather than wait until there is no oil to be had.  We don't need the typical BS out of Washington, however, along with the programs that inevitably make a small number of folks filthy rich at the expense of the rest of us.

Jerry

AMEN

[FNGw/08SERK]

I'm in a rural area and I make a living constructing agricultural and commercial grain handling storage tanks etc. The whole ethanol thing is very complex. I don't think anyone could possibly fully understand what is happening in the grain market. I am just barely smart enough to know that I don't understand. When Katrina hit New Orleans the facilities that ship grain overseas were shut down. This was 2 weeks before our local corn harvest started. When those facilities shut down, the river ports along the Mississippi river shut down, or lowered the price of corn to poverty levels. There was no place to ship the corn, so it was dumped on the dirt.

Illinois, Iowa and the big corn producing states are now looking at corn deficits due primarily to ethanol. They'll have to import corn from other states just to cover their needs. That has NEVER happened before. So, with demand, the price of corn goes up. More farmer's plant corn where they used to plant other crops. They go to a different crop rotation to grow more acres of corn. There's less soybeans than there was before so the price of soybeans goes up. The price of corn goes up and it makes ethanol less effective. Everyone wants cheap food, but, everyone wants to assist the farmer. Look at Willie Nelson and FarmAid. I say cheap food will win out.

If I was president, I'd fix it. I'd let supply and demand figure out the price of corn and the US government would have nothing to do with it. If we ran outta fuel, I'd send all of our boys over yonder and whip the hell outta them and take their oil. They'd push the button and millions of people would die, including me and I'd be responsible for WWIII. That won't work.

Seems to be a pretty delicate balance. I don't know the answers, if I did, I'd be rich in a year or two. Like the song says...TIMES...THEY ARE A-CHANGIN...Me, I just wanna be free to ride my machine. Biggest worry I have in life is my head gasket leak. Actually, that doesn't even bother me too much.

      

[Midnight Rider]

I  thought some people were working on making fuel out of KUDZU....now there's a plant that is definitely a renewable engergy source, as the damn stuff is all but impossible to get rid of once on a person's property.  It is the Japanese payback for whipping their a$$es in WWII.

I don't think corn is the solution to the problem of oil dependency, and I also don't think we have a lot of reserves left untapped in this country...unless you want to open the AWLR (I'm against that, if you can imagine), or start squeezing oil of of shale (Rocky Mountains...I'm against that too).

Ken...I'm with you...food will win out in the long run.  Folks here in Alabama are planting wheat (unusual) because of the wheat shortage in the world right now.

I'm tellin' ya'll, the REAL problems we face in the next 50 years ain't about oil, it's about WATER, and the fact that there are just too damn many people in the world.

[HogBreath]

Most people don't even realize most crops are planted for livestock feed. There's no telling how much of this country's crops are shipped overseas to feed livestock in China or elsewhere. I'd venture to guess California alone could easily produce enough crops to feed the entire US if it didn't go to feed livestock.

I've never thought corn was the solution to the energy crisis. I'm not sure there IS a solution. But, if corn and ethanol decreased our dependance on foreign oil by 1/2 of one percent...It's a step in the right direction. I know one thing for certain...ethanol is coming whether we like it or not.