House Panel Blocks Sales Of E15 Blended Gas - Questions Use Of Food Crops For Fuel Production

A House panel approved a bill Tuesday that would block the Environmental Protection Agency from allowing the use of a higher blend of ethanol for use in vehicles without further study.

The Science Committee approved the bill, sponsored by Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wisconsin, on a 19-7 party line vote.

Automakers and other engine makers have clashed with corn growers since 2010 over whether the United States should allow the use of a new blend of ethanol called E15 because it is 15 percent biofuel — usually made from corn.

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vdiv - 2/10/2012 12:41:02 PM

+1 Boost

What if the ethanol is made from switch grass instead of corn that can be used for food? The issue is that the consumer has no choice and is forced to use ethanol-blended gas whether it is good for the engine or the environment or not.
What about biodiesel? Why are we not subsidizing that?

holmstar - 2/10/2012 4:45:06 PM

+1 Boost

Switch grass is all well and good, but after you harvest the grass for a while the ground is going to be depleted of nutrients. So to keep up production, fertilizer is going to be needed. Guess what the main base product for most commercial fertilizers is? That's right. Oil. (more specifically: petrochemicals derived from oil)

Not to mention that a non-insignificant amount of that fertilizer will end up in run-off, causing runaway algae growth in lakes and streams which later breaks down, using up the oxygen in the water, killing fish. And the excessive nutrients eventually contribute to anoxic zones at the mouths of rivers in the ocean as well, killing more fish.

This isn't to say that I'm opposed to the use of fertilizer generally. We need it to produce enough food for our population. I am opposed to using it carelessly, however.

I agree with you on the engine component issue. The fuel systems of non flex-fuel vehicles aren't made to hold up to significant concentrations of ethanol.