End Subsidy on Ethanol, Add Subsidy for Proven Fuel Saving Technology

by Joe Gokaho/2009.10.31.D6

Key backer of ethanol fuel wants to increase the amount of ethanol into typical petroleum fuel mix. Many of the large cities use “improving air quality”, as the reason for doing so to comply with the federal, EPA, air quality mandate.

It’s tested by many organizations, like MotorWeek, showing the overall fuel efficiency has drop significantly in many vehicles. Even though “per gallon” pollution has reduced as the result of combining petroleum fuel with ethanol, but it takes more “gallon” to get to where you want to go.

I live in a city, where the area is not subjected to the “tougher clean, ozone days”, but we are approaching to the EPA limits. Many of the gas stations dispense fuel without ethanol. The gas stations at the nearby city dispense fuel with 10% ethanol mix. Here is my personal repeated many times over - “1 data point” experiment done on my vehicle (not optimized to run ethanol, no turbo to take advantage of higher compression etc).

Fuel with 10% ethanol = 20.5 mpg
Fuel without ethanol = 22.0 mpg

10% ethanol may have reduced the polluting compound, but it takes 7% more of the blended fuel than conventional fuel. The net results are:

1. More CO2, for the global warming stuff – (according to some scientists)
2. It costs me more money to take me to places
3. It’s doesn’t really make air cleaner, it actually makes it worse because we need to burn more of it.
4. We get burned on both ends, by paying (subsidizing) the ethanol producers, and use it more at the pump.

Let’s save the subsidy toward making ethanol, let farms grow corn where it most suited – for food. (cost vs benefit).

The subsidy can be better used, for encouraging use of “proving” technology that actually burn less fuel. Here are some examples:

1. Manual transmission: It’s improves city driving fuel efficiency.
   Consumer Reports test result shows, 2008 Honda Accord, 4 cylinder
   18 mpg for 5-speed manual
   15 mpg for 5-speed automatic
   
   That’s whopping 20% improvement,
   20% less of CO2
   20% less of money spent on “possible foreign oil”
   14% less of “pollutants” than running E90
2. Making more gears, and more aerodynamic shape vehicle
   Consumer Reports test shows, a 8-speed automatic 2009 Lexus LS460 improves fuel consumption (32 mpg) over the 5-speed 2003 LS430 (29 mpg highway) by 10%

Well, going green, consuming less is great and we should. But we need spend money (subsidy) wisely, congressman.