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EPA Increases Amount of Renewable Fuel To Be Blended Into Gasoline (arstechnica.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Last week the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced its final renewable fuel standards for 2017, requiring that fuel suppliers blend an additional 1.2 billion gallons of renewable fuel into U.S. gas and diesel from 2016 levels. The rule breaks down the requirements to include quotas for cellulosic biofuels, biomass-based diesel, advanced biofuel, and traditional renewable fuel. Reuters points out that the aggressive new biofuel standards will create a dilemma for an incoming Trump administration, given that his campaign courted both the gas and corn industries. While the EPA under the Obama administration has continually increased so-called renewable fuel standards (RFS), the standards were first adopted by a majority-Republican Congress in 2005 and then bolstered in 2007 with a requirement to incorporate 36 billion gallons of renewable fuel into the fuel supply by 2022, barring "a determination that implementation of the program is causing severe economic or environmental harm," as the EPA writes. Some biofuels are controversial not just for oil and gas suppliers but for some wildlife advocates as well. Collin O'Mara, CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, said in a statement that the corn ethanol industry that most stands to benefit from the EPA's expansion of the renewable fuel standards "is responsible for the destruction of millions of acres of wildlife habitat and degradation of water quality." Still, the EPA contends that biofuels made from corn and other regenerating plants offer reductions in overall fuel emissions, if the processes used to make and transport the fuels are included. "Advanced biofuels" will offer "50 percent lifecycle carbon emissions reductions," and their share of the new standards will grow by 700 million gallons in 2017 from 2016 requirements, the EPA says. Cellulosic biofuel will be increased by 81 million gallons and biomass-based diesel will be increased by 100 million gallons. "Non-advanced or 'conventional' renewable fuel" will be increased to 19.28 billion gallons from 18.11 billion gallons in 2016. Conventional renewable fuel "typically refers to ethanol derived from corn starch and must meet a 20 percent lifecycle GHG [greenhouse gas] reduction threshold," according to EPA guidelines. Other kinds of renewable fuels include sugarcane-based ethanol, cellulosic ethanol derived from the stalks, leaves, and cobs leftover from a corn harvest, and compressed natural gas gleaned from wastewater facilities.
A bigger percentage of less energy-dense material per unit volume means more volume gets burned to create the same amount of energy. Add to that the amount of energy needed to create the ethanol, and does this actually make any difference whatsoever? Could it possibly actually make more total overall emissions?
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Ethanol costs more gasoline to make than energy it produces. It decays small engines and breaks things like weedwhackers. It lowers your gas milage. There is no positives at all in ethanol in our gasoline. It should have been banned a long time ago.
American pollution was bad enough that rivers were catching fire. That's why the EPA was created.
Want to depoliticize the EPA? More power to you. Want to destroy it? That just makes you a shitty human being.
You are either young, stupid or a troll. Possibly all three.
I lived before the EPA and the clean air and water acts. I lived near many refineries and factories back in the 60's and 70's. The toxic crap that poured from the smokestacks and drain pipes of these places was horrible. Have you ever seen bright yellow toxic sludge draining directly into a bay? It is not pretty, especially with all the dead sea life floating in it. Cancer rates were astounding, respiratory illnesses were through the roof back in those days.
So you want to kill the EPA. Go ahead. I no longer live near those places, but you should move there and enjoy what you want. Raise your kids there! It's what your heroes want.
Idiot.
Actually, it won't ruin many engines. Certainly none built after the late 90's.
Most people don't know that the only difference between an eco-fuel ford car and its non eco-fuel badged - is a software setting.
I used to be one of the people that thought the increased alcohol content would ruin gaskets, hoses, and cylinder walls, but the auto industry has already addressed it years ago.
Also, for around 150 bucks - most cars can be converted to run on ethanol, e-85, or methanol.
_ _ _ Go for the eyes Boo! GO FOR THE EYES!
Most big progressive programs transfer money from the poor to the rich. Social Security and Medicare are funded with regressive payroll taxes, and most of the benefits go to old people who tend to be richer than average. A poor black man has a life expectancy of about 69 years, so will typically benefit from SS and Medicare for 4 years. A rich white woman will live to be 82, collecting benefits for 17 years. So she gets more than four times the benefits, despite paying in a far smaller portion of her income.
... and the Democrats can't figure out why working class people don't vote for them anymore.