The Death of the Ethanol Industry

mnmthunting

mnmthunting

Banned
Ethanol made from corn that is.

Should help stop the erosion of the CRP program. And is good news for pheasants and other wildlife that benefit from grasslands. And good news for the future of pheasant hunting.
IMO
I do sympathize with those that lost jobs and communities where the shut down plants are. Corn ethanol was a bad idea from the start.
 
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And you got to wonder weather switch grass can be more viable for the use, that could be planted in roadsides, crp where ever, and still provide tons of increased cover. I am far from an expert but it is easy to see that what is going on is not going to work. Gota give them an A+ for effort though. At least they try. I have heard switch grass can be a more productive form in terms of gallons but I have no idea if there is any truth to that at all. It would be cool to see the millions of acres of prime habitat though.
 
thign about the switchgrass thing is that the most productive part of the grass is the bottom 4 inches so if we saw that come into effect I don't know how benefical it would be to pheasants.
 
The strange thing is here in Washington they are mixing 10% Ethanol into our gas at the pumps. They claim it is for cleaner air and keeping the cost down. But the governor keeps raising the gas tax so what good does that do?
 
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The corn ethanol plants that have been in production for a while are going to go on. MN and other states have passed into law 10% ethanol into unleaded gasoline. The E 85 stuff is done, at least until the tx payers are forced into more subsidy.
The switch grass is not a lot better. What good does 4" stubble do for wildlife?
 
Let's take the extra step and be proactive. If switchgrass works, any plant material would work, even paper. Instead of the highway dept mowing the ditches evert two weeks, let the ethanol companies bale it and pay for the tonage. Harvest noxious plants and use them as well. Start collection sites for grass clippings and leaves. Pick up farmers old bales that are going to waste and use them. Paper, well there is a lot of that that could be recycled. If wood can be used, I think all of the invasive species like Siberian Elm, Cedar, locust, etc could be harvested and turned into sawdust for use in ethanol. Some of that could benefit wildlife as well. If you've driver through eastern Kansas or Oklahoma lately, you understand just how much cedar is available. Returning those acres to grassland would benefit quail, prairie chickens,and possibly pheasants. It would improve air quality, groundwater infiltration, and grazing. Now here's a plan!!!
 
I agree with PD. Any problem has its opportunity.

I don't believe any alternative energy is dead I think it is just dormant until its competitive drivers go north or south.

We need to get away from looking at the cost on the buy and see the purchase for what it is fully worth on the lifecycle of the product. Wind, grass, corn, others are all renewable resources we should tap into and develop.

All OPEC needs to do to thwart our efforts on energy independence is drop prices on oil once in a while.

BMW finally came out with a diesel car commercial. It's about time!
 
mnmthunting said:
The corn ethanol plants that have been in production for a while are going to go on. MN and other states have passed into law 10% ethanol into unleaded gasoline. The E 85 stuff is done, at least until the tx payers are forced into more subsidy.
The switch grass is not a lot better. What good does 4" stubble do for wildlife?
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How about the plant east of Mankato on 14?(Verasun) Brand new and not one gallon of production. Has anyone picked it up yet?
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There are several new large production plants That are sitting, bankrupt. Ethanol of any kind will not work until it can be produced without using so much energy and water. Corn ethanol would not have gotten off the ground with out "easy credit" and taxpayer subsidy.
For sure, we're going to need alternate renewable energy. Maybe put the money into technology instead of subsidies.
 
Uncle Buck said:
How about the plant east of Mankato on 14?(Verasun) Brand new and not one gallon of production. Has anyone picked it up yet?
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AgStar picked up the plant out of Bankruptcy as well as a number of other Verasun plants. They were the primary creditor. AgStar is prohibited from actually operating the plants, though, and must contract to keep the things mothballed and ready for a producer to take over. Valerio (sp?), a major petroleum player picked up seven of Verasun's plants. I thought maybe this joke was over, but our esteemed Congressman sent out a newsletter in which he promoted 15% blend (along with "stimulus" funds for a local historical society). He certainly won't be getting my vote with dribble like that.
 
EPA regs require an "oxygenate" be added to all gasoline. Until a few years ago the oxygenate of choice was MTBE, however pollution problems with MTBE forced a change to ethanol as the required oxygenate. Virtually all gasoline now on the market now contains 10% ethanol, and it will stay that way for the foreseeable future.

Higher % ethanol blends, like E85, were made uneconomical when corn prices rose and oil prices fell. High ethanol fuel won't make any sort of comeback until oil prices rise to $100 or so, however there will be demand for ethanol for the 10% blend.

Too many ethanol plants were built on speculation, so some are bankrupt.

Valero, the largest refiner of gasoline in the USA, bought up some ethanol plants to assure themselves of a supply of ethanol.

We use about 150 billion gallons of gasoline per year, so there is a demand for 15 billion gallons of ethanol, regardless of price. 15 billion gallons of ethanol requires about 6 billion bushels of corn, or roughly half our total corn production. That's going to keep upward pressure on corn prices for the foreseeable future.

There's talk of using cellulosic sources (switch grass, wood chips, etc) to produce ethanol, and every year we hear "next year". Personally, I think ethanol from cellulose is now and always will be pie in the sky.

CRP will survive, but maybe at a lower level than now. We aren't going to see $2 corn again any time soon.
 
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