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  • Drew Dowdell
    Drew Dowdell

    By Drew Dowdell •

    Congress Allows Corn Ethanol Subsidy to Expire

    Drew Dowdell - CheersandGears.com

    After 30 years, the ever increasing subsidy for ethanol produced from corn has expired. When Congress adjourned for the year last week, they did not renew the ethanol subsidy that has cost taxpayers some $45 billion during its lifetime. Every gallon of ethanol pumped provided corn growers with a 45 cent subsidy. Most of the savings from ending the subsidy to go towards reducing the US's budget deficit.

    At the same time, a 54 cent per gallon tariff on ethanol imported from Brazil also expired. Brazil is twice as productive per acre of farm land by using sugar cane rather than corn. The expiration of the Brazilian ethanol tariff is unlikely to cause a rush of imported fuel as sugar prices in that country have spiked recently.

    Earlier this year Congress blocked EPA approval of E15 gasoline for use in all vehicles from 2001 and newer. E15 is a blend of 85% petroleum gasoline and 15% ethanol. Automakers unanimously protested the use of E15 in engines not designed for ethanol saying that the effect of the fuel on older engines could not be predicted. They did not want to be blamed for any engine failures caused by the new fuel.

    The ending of the subsidy clashes with a 2007 Congressional mandate that requires 15 billion gallons of bio-fuel be used in 2015 moving up to 36 billion gallons in 2022.

    Source: GreenCarReports, Detroit News

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    vonVeezelsnider

    We have two E85 stations in Canada and they are both in the Greater Toronto Area. Thus, despite having a Flex-Fuel car it does me no good in Calgary. Never used it. We don't have E-15 either as there are no ethanol subsidies in Canada. I guess based on a pure subsidy-free environment there's not much demand.

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    loki

    yay! we have a lower tax(direct or inflation) burden and freer trade. WIN!!!!

    congressional mandates are just that..... as coercive as taxes and just as immoral, therefore not a just law and should not be enforced

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    regfootball

    like E10 and E85 as choices available to the consumer. In my state, E10 is mandated, that is what I hate.

    I think farmers and anyone who wants to pump ethanol into their truck, burn what they grow is kind of cool.

    But E10 and not having a choice of pure gas is like double taxation. You are paying to subsidize ethanol production, paying to use extra fuel you would not normally use. Triple taxation actually, too. You're subsidizing a lot of corn growing before it even sees an ethanol plant too.

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    Drew Dowdell

    well... not anymore you aren't.

    I like the idea of ethanol, but I hate that we've been forced to use just the corn version exclusive to all others. Corn is one of the worst ways to make ethanol, so hopefully now that the playing field is more level, the better, more efficient ways to produce it will come online.

    • Agree 1
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  • Posts

    • Drew Dowdell
      Random Thoughts Thread

      By Drew Dowdell · Posted

      The two big things you need to know are How Acidic and how well it drains or not. I took a class last year on how to grow the American Chestnut. American Chestnuts like to be high on hilltops with very well-drained soils. There's a geomapping tool in Pennsylvania that uses known land and altitude data to populate the best places for Chestnut plantings, and my property is one of the best in the county.  What I used was a mix of planter soil and something called Pittmoss, better than Peatmoss. Its manufactured here and is mostly recycled newspaper. It's good for containers because it holds moisture better than peat.  Just put them in some 5-gallon buckets and let them go.  I need to move them around a bit soon. True genetic American Chestnuts are very hard to find. If you find them online, they are most likely crossbred with something else that is blight-resistant. I got my seeds directly from the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation at one of their research centers at Penn State.
    • Drew Dowdell
      Random Thoughts Thread

      By Drew Dowdell · Posted

      They look like sticks right now, lol. Their leaves are just starting to come back. But here's what they looked like going in.
    • David
      Random Thoughts Thread

      By David · Posted

      My wife gets starter trees for landscaping, and we use 5-gallon plant buckets that have the holes already, but you could use a normal 5-gallon bucket and drill some holes and put it in a planter plate to hold water to help with feeding. We always just use miracle grow soil and the trees are doing really well. We have a bunch of Leyland Cypress trees to be planted once I finish the yard retaining wall and new fence.
    • ccap41
      Random Thoughts Thread

      By ccap41 · Posted

      Speaking of growing trees in buckets/pots, did you over-research what type of potting soil/media to use? I think I'm going down a wormhole of too much information and overthinking.  What did you end up using? 
    • ccap41
      What did you do to your ride today?

      By ccap41 · Posted

      Interesting. I'm using my work computer so I can't exactly download anything to edit them, but I'll probably just try from my phone next time. 

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