[Chaparral]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Daculling', 'H')ow come the "ethanol solution" is not taking up the slack?

[donshan]

New gasoline specs go into effect this year phasing out the octane booster MBTE and REQUIRING ethanol subtitution instead. Already there are predictions of ethanol additive shortages and gas prices of $3 per gallon due to regional ethanol shortages independent of crude oil costs or availability. Since most ethanol is made from corn, less corn means higher gasoline prices.

Often overlooked in the energy calculations of producing ethanol is that it takes a lot of natural gas to distill it after fermentation and a lot of electricity to run the plant. The energy inputs to ethanol go beyond the diesel fuel , fertilizers and pesticides to plant, harvest and truck the corn to the ethanol plant.

Link- Ethanol Shortage could up gas prices

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'G')asoline prices will be unusually high and shortages might occur this summer, because the U.S. ethanol industry can't keep up with the demand for fuel-grade alcohol to mix with gasoline, the head of the U.S. Energy Information Administration told a Senate committee Wednesday.

Merely "short-term challenges," countered Bob Dinneen, president of the Renewable Fuels Association, the ethanol trade group. Whatever can't be produced here can be imported, he said.

But imported ethanol, mostly from Brazil, carries a 54-cents-per-gallon tariff that would boost fuel prices even more, unless it were waived.

...skip

Refiners have used MTBE for years and now are discontinuing it because MTBE can taint water supplies and Congress has refused to protect them from MTBE lawsuits. Ethanol is the only ready substitute.

Dinneen pointed out that 33 ethanol plants are under construction and that some of the 97 others already producing are being expanded.

But EIA, in a report last month warning of shortages, said that "new (ethanol) facilities will not start soon enough to meet 2006 demand." That, EIA head Guy Caruso told the committee, "could cause temporary supply dislocations and may cause price volatility."

[PeakOiler]

Do I hear $1/ear soon?

Yes, that's the current price of corn-on-the-cob at the local grocery. I remember not too long ago that corn would sell for five ears for a dollar. Perhaps its simply because its "out of season," but I'm sure it has more to do with ethanol production.

I was talking with a co-worker who lives in an apartment, doesn't grow or even cook any of his own food, and eats out at restaurants all the time and he scoffed at me for planting my own corn. He asked, why don't you grow things more valuable, like watermelon and canteloupe? I do. But it is obvious that some people are really out of touch.

[Newsseeker]

It is the ethanol production. It has pushed up prices for everything corn-related.

[I_Like_Plants]

I'm considering growing at least some greens, basil and stuff like chard, for instance. I have the patio room, evil neighbors (and their piss-on-everything cats) gone, and it would greatly improve my diet to have fresh greens every day.

I'm also considering at least getting into sprouting. Whole Foods should sell the seeds, and that can be done in the window here.

[pup55]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'c')urrent price of corn-on-the-cob at the local grocery

[PeakOiler]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pup55', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'c')urrent price of corn-on-the-cob at the local grocery

[PeakOiler]

The fresh corn comes from Florida, although sometimes the grocery gets it from Mexico.

The price today was $0.58/ear.

[pup55]

Florida. Go figure.

Maybe an average ear of corn weighs a pound, what with the husk and all.

So in a truckload of corn, 40,000 ears max, minus 10% for packaging (pallets and stuff) so only 36,000.

It's about 1274 miles from Ft. Myers Florida to Waco. The average 18 wheeler gets 6 miles per gallon (on a good day).

.0058 gallons per ear. Diesel was about $2.85 this morning at the truck stop I drive past. 1.6 cents per ear fuel cost.

One of the big nationwide truck fleets (I do not remember which one) is now paying 41 cents per mile to its drivers. 41 cents, 1274 miles, another 1.4 cents per ear to pay the driver. A total of 3 cents per ear so far transportation cost.

An 18 wheeler costs up to $120,000, will run for 10 years, and assuming 16 hours per day at 60 mph, 3.5 million miles during its lifetime, which is only about .16 cents per ear of corn. We are up to 3.16 cents per ear for shipping, total.

Who knows what the farmers' cost is? We know that south florida the soil is really sandy, so you have to fertilize the heck out of everything, irrigate like crazy, (it's been dry down there) hit it with insecticide, and also just the land itself is not cheap, plus pay a migrant worker to pick it.

Then it shows up at the store. The store has to pay some clerk a few dollars per hour to offload the corn, and pull it out onto the sales floor with a pallet jack. Plus the store was no doubt airconditioned, lit, had management, and most importantly, either leased or bought outright by borrowing money to keep a roof over their heads.

There are taxes all the way through the system.Texas' sales tax is, as I recall, fairly exploitative at about 7%. Another 3.6 cents.

So I am ready to say that 58 cents is a miracle.

Truckers Report

[vision-master]

What are the pros and cons of using a corn burner in the city?

How do I get the corn? I have no truck and have no fuel (corn) source pinned down?

I can store the stuff in my garage.

Can I run a PVC exhaust out the side of the house?

I've heard they cost about $1,500.

[Ludi]

Under no account would I get a corn burner. Get a good quality woodstove such as an Earthstove. You can burn nearly anything in it if you remember to clean the flue frequently.

[FoolYap]

Ditto that. IMHO, corn stoves were a temporary aberration. Corn was selling for probably close to its production costs, and that was with cheaper oil and natural gas. It takes a lot of both to deliver a bushel of dry corn to your door.

The economics may work out if you're growing the stuff yourself, but otherwise I'd get a regular woodstove, or a pellet stove. The latter is more convenient ala the corn burners. More expensive than wood, but at least you're not competing with ethanol refineries for the corn.

--Steve

[JBinKC]

I can't think of any pros other than it the exhaust from burning it would be likely be more tolerable. Corn will cost much more in the future given the expanding demand for it and our dollar devaluation. I think another overlooked problem with corn is you have to rodent proof the storage area. It can be solved with another expense the purchase of rodent proof bins or keeping multiple cats



If you have plenty of space to store and process it I would consider wood first based on your return on investment would be very fast especially if you already own a truck and/or utility trailer and chainsaw. It is still fairly easy to obtain wood for free by scrounging around. I am sure it would be easy to get the lower desirable firewood species from an arborist for free.

There are plenty of other catches with wood though especially in the city. Having enough space to process your wood, storing elm firewood could become a legal problem in the twin cities area, wood smoke and neighbors may be another issue to deal with and the dust it causes in the home.

Unfortunately, insulating your house and paying your gas bill probably is still the most economical thing you can do.

[fireplaceguy]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vision-master', 'W')hat are the pros and cons of using a corn burner in the city?

[wisconsin_cur]

From the Associated Press

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'B')ecause of rising demand for ethanol, American farmers are growing more corn than at any time since World War II. And sea life in the Gulf of Mexico is paying the price.

The nation's corn crop is fertilized with millions of pounds of nitrogen-based fertilizer. And when that nitrogen runs off fields in Corn Belt states, it makes its way to the Mississippi River and eventually pours into the Gulf, where it contributes to a growing "dead zone" — a 7,900-square-mile patch so depleted of oxygen that fish, crabs and shrimp suffocate.

[SD_Scott]

So far It's not a disaster but if the rain doesn't let up it could get ugly. Many fields in the area I live haven't even been tilled yet. Some are under water.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'E')ven with 30 percent of this year's expected harvest going toward ethanol, corn must contend with a far more difficult factor this week: weather.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Friday blamed wet weather for late plantings in parts of key corn growing states. As a result, predictions are that corn production could be down as much as 7 percent from last year's record harvest.

Martin Barbre in Carmi, Ill., about five hours south of Chicago, has planted only about a third of his 2,000 acres of corn. Rain this week put him three weeks behind his usual schedule in the season.

"As wet as the ground is now, we're going to need four to five days just to dry out," Barbre said Friday. "We need 10 straight days of dry weather actually."

Each day after May 15 without any corn in the ground could trim yields by about one bushel of corn per acre at harvest time. With 86 million acres of corn expected to be planted nationwide, the losses could be devastating and further tighten supplies months from now, said Ray Grabanski, president of Progressive Ag Marketing in North Dakota.

"It's a race against the weather," Grabanski said. "The later the crop is planted the more you become susceptible to other weather losses. One is heat during pollination, the other is freezing before harvest."

[dooberheim]

It just keeps raining here. It is likely that many farmers in MO and IL/IN will not be able to plant. It's also been cold, and things that are planted are not growing as fast as they should.

At least we will have peaches and apples this year.

DK

[Bigfuture]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dooberheim', 'I')t just keeps raining here. It is likely that many farmers in MO and IL/IN will not be able to plant. It's also been cold, and things that are planted are not growing as fast as they should.

At least we will have peaches and apples this year.

DK