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| PETROLPHOBIA (Page 10/66) |
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USFiero
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APR 17, 12:49 PM
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Wow, gas hit $2.81 last weekend...
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NEPTUNE
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APR 17, 12:59 PM
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| quote | | Originally posted by Toddster: For all of you how are considering switching to ethanol I am more than happy to act as your Realtor to buy that farm land to grow some corn on.  |
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The funny thing is, it takes a LOT of petroleum to grow corn.
Even more petroleum to turn it into ethanol.
Sigh.
Apparently this won't help, either. "Author Michael Pollan: 'The Omnivore's Dilemma' Talk of the Nation, April 14, 2006 · In his new book, The Omnivore's Dilemma, journalist and writer Michael Pollan argues that many Americans suffer from a national eating disorder based on super-sized, corn-fed diets. " This is mostly written about corn as an ingredient in more foods than you can imagine, but its use as fuel is just as wasteful. Who knew? Hear the interview with the author here:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5342514 Oh, yeah. Regular gas is $2.809 in my neighborhood, $3.009 per gallon and up on the turnpike and around the airport and tourist world areas. It was 2.139 Valentines day.
And as bad as that seems, when adjusted for inflation thats still no worse than 50 years ago. [This message has been edited by NEPTUNE (edited 04-17-2006).]
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Toddster
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APR 17, 01:34 PM
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| quote | | Originally posted by NEPTUNE:
The funny thing is, it takes a LOT of petroleum to grow corn.
Even more petroleum to turn it into ethanol.
Sigh.
Apparently this won't help, either.
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Not sure where you get that idea. Brazil is an example of a total fuel independant nation. They use ethanol exculsively...virtually zero petroleum. They produce it from their agriculture business and the cost to produce ethanol is MORE than covered by the sale price. We have a greater capacity to do this than Brazil does. And it gives us a reason to kill farm subsidies since we will need all the corn they can grow!
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NEPTUNE
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APR 17, 09:12 PM
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| quote | | Originally posted by Toddster: Not sure where you get that idea. Brazil is an example of a total fuel independant nation. They use ethanol exculsively...virtually zero petroleum. They produce it from their agriculture business and the cost to produce ethanol is MORE than covered by the sale price. We have a greater capacity to do this than Brazil does. And it gives us a reason to kill farm subsidies since we will need all the corn they can grow! |
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Brazil makes ethanol from sugar cane.
Because of cheap farm labor and a fovorable climate, sugar is cheaper to produce in Brazil than in the USA.
In the US, sugar cane (and beet) farmers are subsidized by the government, because it costs much more to produce sugar here.
We in the USA pay more for sugar than any other nation because of price supports, import quotas, and what amounts to government welfare to the US sugar growers.
They could not survive in a free, open market.
That leaves corn (dependent on petroleum based fertilizers) or soybeans as possible sources of biofuel.
I don't know much about soybean farming...yet.
JSTRIKER????? can the USA grow our way out of our "addiction to oil?" [This message has been edited by NEPTUNE (edited 04-18-2006).]
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USFiero
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APR 18, 09:07 AM
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| quote | Originally posted by NEPTUNE:Because farm labor is cheaper in Brazil than in the USA. can the USA grow our way out of our "addiction to oil?"
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With oil hitting (potentiallly) $100 a barrell soon I imagind someone is formulating a contigiency plan.
| quote | Originally posted by me a year ago:
I paid 2.09 last nite! |
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So where are we, 35% above last year at this moment?[This message has been edited by USFiero (edited 04-18-2006).]
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JazzMan
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APR 18, 01:54 PM
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. [This message has been edited by JazzMan (edited 12-03-2008).]
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lurker
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APR 19, 03:19 PM
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this last week i saw a biodiesel plant, which makes fuel out of used cooking oil. apparently it's made from a water heater and some plastic tanks. the by-product is glycerine, from which the owner makes soap. the possibility of making fuel without benefit of corporations and arabs appeals to me, but i forsee problems. in the short term, i dont own a diesel engine and cant afford one. more important in the long run, just how much used cooking oil is there? how much will it cost to buy a barrel of KFC brand grease, once we're all cooking it up in batches in our garage? not a solution, i'm afraid.
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fierobear
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APR 19, 03:55 PM
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Just out of curiosity, how much corn does it take (by land/planting area) to make one gallon of gas?
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USFiero
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APR 25, 12:23 AM
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Well, a couple places have hit $3 a gallon, and many of them are out of gas right now. I understand it is a temporary thing until the 'new' formula comes out.... but I'm concerned about the ethanol putting crud in my fuel tank. Guess I'll be doing fuel filter changes all around. And what's this about worse fuel mileage? Is there something we should do to prep our cars for this? Hotter plugs? Bigger gaps? Higher temp T-stat? O2 sensor tweeks?
I did find gas for $2.88 though.
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USFiero
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JUN 12, 02:32 PM
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| quote | Originally posted by Me a yaer ago:
Prices went up a couple cents, then back down to 1.86 again - then BAM right back to 1.99 overnite. It's summertime. |
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a couple days ago, it was hard to find gas for less than $2.90 per gal. Got it for $2.83/gallon today.
...the beat goes on.
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