Ahhhheeemmm! Excuse me as I clear my throat for a speech.
Azzzzz a grain farmer in an agricultural state. The news coverage here is to vote out incumbants in Congress BECAUSE the EPA has delayed a decision on E-15 for almost a year and that the green light wasn't given for use in all vehicles. In fact the blowhards are talking overtime because they were pushing for an increase to E-30. E-15 is considered as a political failure.
When gasahol was introduced in the early 1980's it was considered a fad, and that the ethanol used for the 10% formulation was only going to displace supply to the Jim Beam drinkers. Gasahol was touted as a great winter fuel for the northern climate and it always was recognized that it usually delivered a poorer mpg than straight gasoline. Mostly found only @ farmer owned cooperatives that grew larger then expanded to convienience stores in the midwest. Soon other regions adopted the 10% blend as a green fuel to help eliminate toxic gasoline additives. Is it for use in all vehicles--NO! I buy bulk fuels and I cannot store ethanol without problems. My old trucks gasoline tractors cannot use ethanol. I don't complain about it, I just pay the extra dimes for straight gasoline.
When I fuel up @ the gas pumps in town, I use ethanol in my personal road vehicles. Only occasionally in the motorcycles. I own an E-85 vehicle, and yes I can notice a decrease in milage. But with the spread in cost from straight unleaded to E-85, it is a wash as to cost per mile. I have towed a 23 ft travel trailer burning E-85 and the vehicle performed as well as if I had filled with unleaded.
The absolute pro consideration of ethanol is that is provides an essential market for a renewable commodity grown in the USA. Governments control the import/export of grains around the world. When grain prices fall, governments (including the US) must prop up the ag community with subsidies to keep farms producing. With the expansion of ethanol and biodiesel products, farmers no longer have to rely on the government to pay up for artificially keeping food prices down. And foreign conglomerates and governments cannot choke the supply of ethanol.
Now the future. South America runs on ethanol produced from sugar cane waste. USA plants are working on a cellulose (like grass clippings) based ethanol production. Again renewable resource. The ag sector can again provide the raw material that doesn't have to be imported. Like the commercials say on TV, "No US Troops died to bring Ethanol to the pumps!" "No miles of coastline were fouled to produce a single gallon of pure Ethanol!"
We may not like it as it is a change. But as long as unleaded or premium gasoline is offered at the pump (and I expect it to be as long as we have internal combustion engines operating) we really don't need to wrapped around the axle and trying to make villians out of people trying to sort out the mess we ended up with. The hardest part of politics is that you can't cure one problem without creating another. Complaints that the Ethanol blends are less expensive than unleaded is like complaining that your favorite cheese isn't always on sale. No one is forcing the purchase of Ethanol on anyone. Our state government tried to mandate the use of ethanol or biodiesel blends by all state, county and school vehicles. After a couple months they had to recind the order as pure folly.
