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i though that sence these older gassers dont like ethanal id post this.
U.S. Governors Push for 13% Ethanol Blend Rate
- Source: Governor's Biofuels Coalition, February 24, 2009 press release
U.S. governors who want to see more ethanol production said on Monday they are optimistic regulators will soon boost the allowed blend rate for ethanol in gasoline to 13 percent from 10 percent.
Members of the Governors' Biofuels Coalition said they want the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to issue a waiver to allow the sale of 13 percent ethanol blends.
Response from the administration of President Barack Obama has been encouraging, Iowa Gov. Chet Culver, vice chair of the coalition, told reporters.
Obama and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack have expressed support to the governors for increased biofuels use to help lessen dependence on foreign oil, Culver said.
"The EPA is going to take a very serious look at that 10 percent waiver, and we're encouraged," Culver said.
"We're optimistic, and we think we have people in place, like (Agriculture Secretary Tom) Vilsack in particular, that can help us make the case on a daily basis out here," he said.
North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven, the coalition's chair, told Reuters he hoped the EPA would act on the waiver request "within weeks or months."
He said the increase to 13 percent was just the first step. "We want to continue that effort to increase the percentage blend into fuels into the fuel supply," Hoeven said.
Corn-based ethanol companies have struggled to make profits recently because of volatile corn and oil prices. Some companies have filed for bankruptcy, and about a fifth of ethanol capacity has been idled.
Ethanol makers have been pushing to boost the blend rate as high as 20 percent to encourage the development of the industry.
Any increases to ethanol blend rates would also need the support of the auto industry, which is concerned about the effects of higher blends on fuel lines and catalytic converters, Hoeven said.
We've got to work with the auto industry because of their concerns about warranty issues," he said. "But the research and development is showing that the higher percentage blends work."
California May Drop its Attempt to Obtain Emissions Exception
-Source: Detroit News, March 6, 2009
California's top air regulator said her state could agree to the nationwide carbon-emissions standards that the auto industry seeks.
But the details of such a plan, which could supersede the attempt by California and 13 other states to impose their own rules, are likely to bring their own contentious debate, even as years of fighting over California's rules begins to ebb.
"I think we may be very close to being on the same page," said Mary Nichols, the chairwoman of the powerful California Air Resources Board. She and dozens of industry experts, environmental activists and private citizens testified during an Environmental Protection Agency hearing on California's request to set its own rules for tailpipe emissions.
The Bush administration denied the request a year ago, but within days of taking office, President Barack Obama ordered a review of that decision. The administration has sent strong signals in recent days that it plans to set nationwide greenhouse gas limits.
Among those speaking Thursday was Sen. Carl Levin, D-Detroit, making a rare appearance by a sitting senator before a regulatory panel. Levin echoed the auto industry's case against a waiver for California, and calling for a nationwide standard built on the model of fuel efficiency increases Congress passed in 2007.
That legislation made it easier for domestic carmakers, whose sales are skewed toward pickups and SUVs, to meet increasing mileage standards. Levin said Thursday that if the nationwide standards the Obama administration is considering follow that same structure, he could support them.
But Nichols raised questions about that approach. She said the 2007 law may have gone "too far in terms of trying to protect larger, heavier vehicles."
Levin and representatives from auto dealers and manufacturers argued against the California request, saying it would establish an unworkably complex web of state-by-state regulations. But Nichols said approval of the waiver is the best way to pressure federal officials to set aggressive national standards.
"It ratchets the whole debate up in the direction that it needs to go," she said.
Ethanol Producers Press for Higher Limits
-Source: Washington Post, March 6, 2009
The nation's ethanol producers are urging the Obama administration to raise the 10 percent limit on ethanol in motor fuel to 15 percent or more, a move they hope will create new demand at a time when many distilleries are idle.
The producers say higher ethanol blends would help create jobs and reduce petroleum imports. Moreover, without a change in the 10 percent limit, ethanol makers say it could be difficult to fulfill a congressional mandate for renewable fuel use and the makers of new forms of ethanol, which rely on raw materials other than corn, could be locked out of the fuel market.
"This is about jobs, energy security for America, improving the environment and meeting our legal responsibilities under the 2007 energy bill," said retired Gen. Wesley Clark, co-chairman of a group of ethanol firms called Growth Energy.
Growth Energy plans to formally request a waiver today from the Environmental Protection Agency to raise the ethanol content of motor fuel to 15 percent.
Under the existing 10 percent limit, ethanol production would theoretically top out at 14 billion gallons a year based on current fuel consumption trends, or less because of transportation constraints that limit ethanol deliveries in many parts of the country. That falls far short of the targets in current law, which requires refiners to use 36 billion gallons a year of ethanol by 2022, up from the current 10.5 billion gallon production level. President Obama said during the presidential campaign that he favors a 60 billion-gallon-a-year target.
But many critics say the push for higher ethanol limits is really about propping up the heavily subsidized ethanol industry and giving a boost to venture capital firms that are still struggling to come up with an economically competitive way to produce other forms of ethanol made from plants that do not compete with food products.
In addition, the American Petroleum Institute and some carmakers say they want to wait to make sure that higher percentages of ethanol in gasoline won't damage vehicles' engine parts.
Edward B. Cohen, vice president of government and industry relations at American Honda, said questions remain about the effect on existing engines in motorcycles, lawn mowers and weed trimmers.
"What is the implication for those engines of using a higher blend, which has more water and is therefore more corrosive?" Cohen asked. "I think that displacing petroleum with ethanol is a plus, but before moving precipitously, we need to make sure that the products are going to continue to perform and that emissions will not be adversely affected."
Not all automakers oppose the change. In a letter two weeks ago to the chief executive of ethanol maker POET, Ford said it would endorse an immediate increase in ethanol blends up to 15 percent.
The ethanol industry's push comes as the Obama administration appears to be leaning toward lifting the ethanol ceiling slightly, perhaps to 12 percent, while research on higher concentrations is done.
"The only issue is what auto companies say about the damage it could do to engines," Energy Secretary Steven Chu told reporters at a recent forum sponsored by the trade publication Platts.
Many ethanol producers are pressing for a decision quickly. The industry has the capacity to produce 12.5 billion gallons a year of corn-based ethanol, about 9 percent of the nation's motor fuel supply and three times as much as was produced in 2005.
But it is falling about 2 billion gallons short of that capacity as prices have tumbled in the economic downturn. VeraSun, once the nation's second-biggest producer, filed for bankruptcy protection last fall after losing hundreds of millions of dollars on a bad bet on corn prices. It accounts for about half of the nation's idle capacity.
Other firms have been hit too. Last week Pacific Ethanol, struggling to negotiate new loan terms with Wachovia and other lenders, announced that it would suspend operations at two 60 million-gallon-a-year facilities, one in Stockton, Calif., and one in Burley, Idaho. Pacific Ethanol had already suspended operations at a 40 million-gallon-a-year plant.
"It's because of the economic climate," said Matt Hartwig, a spokesman for the Renewable Fuels Association. Companies are struggling to get operating capital and profit margins are being squeezed. "Things are bad," he said.
Congress might soon weigh in on the issue. Yesterday, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) said the issue was under discussion, adding "it's unlikely that I would want to roll back" the renewable fuels standard Congress set in 2007.
this long list is from the, National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition
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i didnt post the real bad part