E85 FUEL Legislation

[GregWeld]

For you boys planning on running E85.... best have an alternative plan down the road.



Ethanol requirements for U.S. gasoline appear to be losing friends and influencing the wrong people, with calls growing to reform or scrap the government mandates altogether.
The Environmental Protection Agency in November proposed reducing the amount of renewable fuels, including corn-based ethanol, that oil refiners must blend with gasoline. The rule is a centerpiece of government efforts to curb carbon emissions, while jump-starting alternative forms of energy.

The draft rule would impact the 2014 requirement for renewables to fall between 15 billion and 15.52 billion gallons from 18.15 billion gallons. But the proposal to reduce ethanol requirements for 2014 has done little to quell the groundswell of complaints about the practical effects of using corn-based fuel in America's gasoline supply.

Earlier this month, California Democrat Dianne Feinstein joined forces with Oklahoma Republican Tom Coburn to introduce a Senate bill to strip ethanol completely from the Renewable Fuel Standard, also known as RFS. Although Feinstein continues to champion renewable fuel, she has expressed concerns that excess corn-based fuel production—mainly due to the RFS requirements—is "really not wise," and that the standards may hurt the Golden State's livestock producers.

The bipartisan nature of that bill, combined with the EPA's proposal, sent corn futures reeling on the Chicago Board of Trade in early December.

[FETorino]

I am planning on running E85 but I never saw it as something that would be available without having to hunt for it. For instance right now I have to go 10mi in any one of three directions to an E85 station vs gas stations on every block.

I agree if you were planning on building a daily driver E85 car in the long run you may be disappointed. I wouldn't count it dead just yet we have to wait and see if the corn lobbyists kung fu is more powerful than the cow lobbyists kung fu.

It is pretty popular on the race scene so I imagine VP will continue to sell it for a few years no matter what. In my case I built the motor to run on pump so a carb swap and tweaking of the timing would get me back to gas.

[INTMD8]

Mine will be flex fuel so E85 isn't necessary but I would prefer it. So much invested in infrastructure around this fuel so I would be surprised if it dissapears completely but who knows

[Musclerodz]

Never liked the idea of E85 from the beginning and using corn to make it. There are far better resources that could have been used. Natural gas is what I have always believed should be the next generation fuel source. The issue is there was no infrastructure for it, but that is changing quickly.

[WSSix]

x2 E85 is right there with wind power. It only survives and is "viable" because of massive government subsidies and requirements that artificially inflate it's demand.

[ironworks]

Maybe now the dairy guys will be able to by feed for their cattle at a cheaper price.

[Vince@Meanstreets]

Creating fuel from a food source was such a bad idea when you have so many alternatives out there. Algae, waste methane, natural gas and other.

[rwhite692]

Originally Posted by Musclerodz

Never liked the idea of E85 from the beginning and using corn to make it. There are far better resources that could have been used. Natural gas is what I have always believed should be the next generation fuel source. The issue is there was no infrastructure for it, but that is changing quickly.

Absolutely!

[SSLance]

I think the 6 years or so of subsidizing the ethanol industry is enough, it's time to see if it can stand on it's own.

This coming from someone with skin in the game.

[Che70velle]

Unless I'm reading this wrong, which is totally possible, this will affect all ethanol based fuels, not just E85, correct? Which means that fuel prices will see another increase? I can purchase non-ethanol fuel, but it generally costs .30 cents or so, more per gallon. This is bad news for everybody, in so many ways.