High gas prices: Not just big oil, but ethanol
While most Americans have no problem blaming big oil companies for high gasoline prices, they aren't the only energy producers experiencing huge profits. Ethanol producers are also enjoying tax incentives, tariffs and, ultimately, profits.
"The increased demand has sent ethanol prices through the roof. Tom Kloza, a gasoline-markets analyst for the Oil Price Information Service, figures ethanol producers such as Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) are enjoying profits as high as $65 out of every $115 barrel. That's contributing to the gasoline price run-up as refiners pass those costs along."
BusinessWeek Via MSNBC
posted by Dahcredyns @ 4:12 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
The reason ethanol is in high demand is because the fuel additive MTBE (which has been listed by the EPA as a possible carcinogen and has been detected in groundwater) is being excluded from the fuel mix in large areas of the country. Ethanol plants are exerting a herculean effort to provide as much ethanol as possible to replace the MTBE in the fuel mix.
Ethanol is a viable solution to this short term problem and is also part of the overall solution to our "addiction to oil" in this country.
Ethanol is renewable, good for the American economy and can be used in all cars manufactured today. E10, 10% ethanol and 90% gasoline, is widely available in many areas of the country and is a great first step in the direction of energy independence for our country.
I am going to fill up with ethanol wherever and whenever I possibly can.
I don't have a problem with ethanol.
I'm only questioning the profit margins. Why do Americans question high profit margins in the oil industry, but not the ethanol industry?
Also, is ethanol really good for the economy today? I'm not sure it would be, if not for the tariffs and tax incentives.
Of course that should change with cellulose driven ethanol.
Ultimately, I made this post because I think people need to stop complaining about high oil/gas prices, and start buying smaller cars, hybrids, etc., as well as using bio-diesel, ethanol and other alternative fuel sources.
Even at today's prices oil is still cheap, it's America's nonsensical automotive habits that are expensive.
Ethanol is only a viable short-term solution for people whose cars can use that fuel. The rest of us need to find more immediate ways to save money at the pump: carpooling, telecommuting, driving more efficiently, finding the cheapest gas we can find. Long-term, we need alternatives to the internal combustion engine and better mass transit. Short-term, we need to find ways to keep our money in our pockets instead of putting it in our gas tanks.
Ethanol is only a viable short-term solution for people whose cars can use that fuel. The rest of us need to find more immediate ways to save money at the pump: carpooling, telecommuting, driving more efficiently, finding the cheapest gas we can find. Long-term, we need alternatives to the internal combustion engine and better mass transit. Short-term, we need to find ways to keep our money in our pockets instead of putting it in our gas tanks.
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