Gas up again!

[soberups]

E10 is 10% ethanol 90% gasoline. It's mandated in about eight states. It creates less carbon emissions. However by doing a little six month study on my own, I averaged about a 10% loss in MPG, therefor needing more, which in turn doesn't really lower the emissions I was putting out compared to 100% gasoline.

The reduction in carbon emissions deends entirely upon the source of the ethanol. You are correct that ethanol decreases mileage, thereby requiring more fuel to be used overall. However, gasoline is emitting carbon that had been sequestered underground in oil, whereas ethanol is made from corn or other organic material that drew carbon out of the air thru photosynthesis of the crop from which it was harvested.

If we stopped drilling for oil and 100% of our fuel was refined from biomass, there would be no net increase in carbon emissions.

Making ethanol out of corn is not particularly efficient until you remember that most of the corn grown in this country is used for animal feed. If you refine corn into ethanol, the leftover mash is a high-protien meal that can still be fed to cattle. A cow eating this meal will emit far less flatulence since the starch in the corn has been removed and distilled into ethanol first. In a sense, you can say that burning ethanol in an engine is the same as burning cow farts...the gas was already going to be emitted either way, so it makes sense to capture that wasted energy first and use it intstead of a fossil fuel.

 

[soberups]

I pay $1.99 at the pump for E85 flex fuel for my Caravan. Combined with the $.50 per gallon Oregon tax credit, my final cost is $1.49 per gallon which is about $.70 cheaper than gasoline. With the decrease in mileage vs regular gas factored in, I am breaking even. The difference is that the ethanol I am using for fuel was made here in Oregon from a mix of domestically grown corn (which is still fed to cattle after the ethanol is refined) and waste biomass from local blueberry farms. I am keeping my money in my local economy instead of sending it overseas.

I pay $2.49 per gallon at the pump for B99 biodiesel for my '06 VW Jetta TDI. It also qualifies for the Oregon tax credit of $.50 per gallon, which means I am paying $2 per gallon. Like E85, the decrease in mileage makes the lower price a wash....but like E85 I am using a fuel made entirely here in Oregon from a renewable mix of soybean oil and used cooking oil from a local potato-chip factory. The only downside to biodiesel is that you cant run it straight during the cold winter months, it gels up at low temps so I have to blend it 50/50 with normal petroleum diesel. My car gets almost 40 MPG either way.

 

[stevetheupsguy]

$2 freaking .39gal here, just in time for Memorial Day. I feel sorry for those of you that don't have alternative transportation.

 

[mattwtrs]

$2.35 here in Pa. I think there was a 6 cents a gallon jump on Thursday. At this rate we'll be at $2.50 by Memorial Day.

There was another 4 cents a gallon jump on Tuesday. In my part of Pennsylvania you have to pay $2.39 a gallon. This is a 10 cent a gallon increase in less than a week.

Did the refinery fire on the Pa.-Delaware line have anything to do with this?

 

[mattwtrs]

Diesel fuel is now cheaper by 3 to 6 cents a gallon around my area. When was the last time this happened?

 

[trplnkl]

Diesel fuel is now cheaper by 3 to 6 cents a gallon around my area. When was the last time this happened?

1980something?

 

[stevetheupsguy]

Twothirtyfrickingnine a gal here. Um, Hello?

 

[stevetheupsguy]

$2.49gal reg unleaded. Here we go again. I guess the energy people think that normal people get rich this time of year.

 

[trplnkl]

$2.49gal reg unleaded. Here we go again. I guess the energy people think that normal people get rich this time of year.

not at all, they think, "we're gonna get richer" this time of year.

 

[Mike57]

Be lucky,
Here in The Windy City the home of the HIGHEST price gas in the country. Gas is averaging about about $2.75 a gal !

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

Be lucky,
Here in The Windy City the home of the HIGHEST price gas in the country. Gas is averaging about about $2.75 a gal !

I think the folks in California may argue that point.

 

[evilleace]

$2.58 here

 

[Catatonic]

$2.58 here

$228.9 this morning at Sam's Club.

 

[dilligaf]

2.35 here this morning. The Texaco just down the street was 2.49.

 

[stevetheupsguy]

$2.49 yesterday, $2.55 on my way to work (I drove), $2.59 on the way home from work. Can't think of anything smart alecky to say.

 

[Pkgrunner]

$2.89 here...I wish it were still @2.59....that's what it was last month.

 

[rod]

 

[stevetheupsguy]

$2.59 - $2.63gal unleaded here. Guess I'll add another day of cycling to my week.

 

[Catatonic]

$2.59 - $2.63gal unleaded here. Guess I'll add another day of cycling to my week.

$2.359 a gallon here - guess I'll take one of my 35 days off a year this week.

 

[stevetheupsguy]

$2.359 a gallon here - guess I'll take one of my 35 days off a year this week.

How's about we make tomorrow a gas free Monday?