Originally Posted By: TiredTrucker
But there are many studies that show for every 1 BTU of energy to produce ethanol, from corn planting, fertilizer, harvest, transportation, ethanol production, etc... there is a net 1.34 BTU energy output from ethanol, for a 34% gain in BTU output over input.
http://www.transportation.anl.gov/pdfs/AF/265.pdf
True, a gasoline engine on various blends of ethanol will get lower mpg. But that doesn't mean it has a lower cost per mile. My pickup on E85 has a 1-2 cent lower cost per mile on the lower mpg than with even the better mpg I get from regular gas. Ethanol is market traded on the commodity exchanges. The producers have no say in the market price. And ethanol is substantially less cost than gas, so at even the reduced mpg, the cost per mile is less also. At the worse, a break even.
And on engines that are primarily design around E85 compared to flex fuel motors that are just gas motors that can run E85, the results are striking. Ricardo has a 3.2L V6 EBDI E85 motor that puts out the same power and fuel economy of a 6.6L diesel, but it uses E85. Cummins has a 2.8L E85 motor that outperforms a 5.7L Hemi in both power and fuel economy.
And I am not averse to using farmland to fuel vehicles. That is way better than using sacrificed lives of military men and women to fuel them, as we did with the gulf wars. The last Iraqi adventure cost us $14 Billion a month. Ethanol subsidies, before they were eliminated at the end of 2011, capped out at no more than $13 billion a year. And not one military member lost their life or was seriously wounded protecting a corn field. Those that run around claiming they support the troops should be all over ethanol use. And that is where the rubber meets the road... as a Viet vet, I always measure a person's statement of supporting the troops in how that actually plays out in what they do on a daily basis and how they vote. Talk is cheap.
Facts aren't. "In 2011 the USDA began to allow blender pump subsidies to replace the ethanol subsidies which expired in 2011." The administration 2015 budget has MORE of these subsidies included. A neat little sidestep around Congress. Nice try.