Klubman wrote:
Johnny probably has shares in an ethanol company.
Anyway I hope the price of petrol goes higher, as I make gas mixers for a living. I just love it at the moment, job to keep up with all the conversions going on. That's the reason for the wanted notice for another lathe.
Funny though no one wants mixers to suit minis (not much room for a gas tank in the boot)
The Manildra Group which is Australia's largest producer of ethanol is also one of the largest contributors to the Liberal Party coffers. So naturally the public has a right to ask just how "beneficial" ethanol really is.
One of the key arguments raised is that it would be good for the cane farmers as the waste cane can be converted to ethanol. If that was true it would not necessarily be a bad thing. Catch is, it is grains (mainly wheat) are used to produce most of Australia's ethanol - not cane.
And then there is the cost. The government argues that by using E10 the price of fuel would drop by 3-4 cents per litre. But if they stopped the subsidy to the ethanol industry and reduced the tax on petrol so that the overall budget position was unchanged, it is a safe bet that the same (or maybe a better) reduction in petrol prices could be achieved.
And what about the environmental effects? Yes ethanol is produced from renewable resources, but the machinery that is used to grow and harvest the crops runs on petroleum products - thereby producing environmental "damage". More ethanol = more land used for crops and more machinery = more environmental damage. Also, ethanol has a lower calorific value than petrol which means that to produce the same amount of work (power, distance travelled, etc), you need to use more of it. Naturally this means that you are also using more petrol as the fuel is now a blend. The result, higher exhaust gas outputs. Oh gee, more environmental adverse effects.
And lastly - vehicle damage. In some countries there are cars designed to run on high concentrations of ethanol - read "designed to run". They require special rubbers throughout the fuel system, different calibrations to their injection or carburettor systems and (mostly) are able to produce ethanol cheaply without substantial subsidy - therefore it is significantly cheaper than petrol. Just dropping ethanol in the tank of an older car will result in leaks in the fuel system and poor running. it is possible to avoid/fix this, but at a cost to the owner.
OK. Off my soap box now.