Goodbye Ethanol?
Lexus Champion
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 11,204
Likes: 11
From: The Woodlands, TX
Except maybe for a few of the companies who are in bio-fuel research and development, it is illegal in most places to run auto or truck diesel engines on cooking oil, because of state and federal taxes that have to be paid on motor fuels. That means that legitimate fuel can only be sold at state-licensed stations.......not your corner supermarket.
Yes, some people do it, but they are taking a risk. And, it is not necesarily cheaper, even without the motor-fuel tax.......a gallon of cooking oil at most grocery stores is likely going to cost more than a gallon of even modern low-sulfur diesel fuel at a station.
Yes, some people do it, but they are taking a risk. And, it is not necesarily cheaper, even without the motor-fuel tax.......a gallon of cooking oil at most grocery stores is likely going to cost more than a gallon of even modern low-sulfur diesel fuel at a station.
they will probably PAY YOU to haul it away for them!
Last edited by bagwell; Sep 28, 2009 at 01:51 PM.
Thread Starter
Lead Lap
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 527
Likes: 0
From: Idaho
I'm pro-environment, which is why I'm slowly changing my viewpoint to anti-ethanol.
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 94,521
Likes: 261
From: Virginia/D.C. suburbs
First, big fast-food chains probably buy their cooking oil in huge bulk quantities, at a discount. The average diesel-car owner probably wouldn't have the facilities to store something like that. Second, some of that oil is probably recycled, as all of it is not actually consumed as it heats up and cooks.
you went to local gas stations and asked the people at the counter?
LOL, they'd probably point me to the beer cooler at the back of the store for ethanol
Lexus Champion
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 3,459
Likes: 1
From: Makati, Philippines
I'd be more supportive of ethanol if the US had a better plant to make it from. The exploration of switchgrass should be interestingIn fact, if you want biofuels to succeed, you would have to DIVERSIFY your use of feedstock. Do not just LIMIT yourself to one feedstock but use whatever is possible.
Aside from corn, there is also switchgrass, sorghum and whatnot. Here in the Philippines, our requirements for E5 mostly come from sugarcane sources so yeah.
Anyhow, aside from bioethanol and biodiesel, I think there is a study for the use butanol. Hopefully that takes off as well (hopefully).
Lexus Test Driver
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 8,809
Likes: 143
From: MA
Unfortunately, it is counterproductive for the environment. There are numerous *independent* studies that show when you examine the entire life-cycle of ethanol that you are actually putting more pollution into the air then just burning non-ethanol based fuels.
I'm pro-environment, which is why I'm slowly changing my viewpoint to anti-ethanol.
I'm pro-environment, which is why I'm slowly changing my viewpoint to anti-ethanol.
Pole Position
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 319
Likes: 1
From: NJ
The fast food joints probably won't pay you to take the used vegetable oil like bagwell said but I know for a fact some will let you take it for free. My friend has a very simple used vegetable oil filteration set up in his garage that gets water and other stuff out of the used waste vegetable oil from japanese/chinese restaurants to run his modified VW diesel in a two tank setup. Regular diesel is run at the startup to make sure in a colder engine the vegetable oil doesn't clog up and also run the diesel before shutoff to purge any vegetable oil in the fuel system. Those restaurants would had to pay someone else to haul that used oil out so they are saving some money unless they themselves have modified diesel. It's a win win.
First, big fast-food chains probably buy their cooking oil in huge bulk quantities, at a discount. The average diesel-car owner probably wouldn't have the facilities to store something like that. Second, some of that oil is probably recycled, as all of it is not actually consumed as it heats up and cooks.
Nope...I asked the manager. He (or she) makes the decisions on what to order, not the rank-and-file people.
Nope.....at my station, you have to go next door to 7-11 for beer.
Nope...I asked the manager. He (or she) makes the decisions on what to order, not the rank-and-file people.
Nope.....at my station, you have to go next door to 7-11 for beer.
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Kill ethanol's golden subsidy
http://voices.kansascity.com/node/6186
ill ethanol's golden subsidy
By The Kansas City Star Editorial Board
Congress has tried to create a charmed life for ethanol and Midwestern corn growers in recent years.
First came a hefty tax credit for producing the renewable fuel. And in late 2007 U.S. lawmakers passed a new standard that requires quadrupling the output of ethanol and other biofuels by 2022.
But this month the federal Government Accountability Office issued a sobering report that questioned the need for the tax credit because it’s not expected to boost ethanol production beyond already-mandated levels.
In reaction, Congress should scrap the 45-cent tax credit that artificially supports each gallon of ethanol.
The credit helps keep out cheaper ethanol from Brazil, boosting the cost of driving for American motorists.
More notably, the tax credit is no longer needed now that Congress has mandated such a large increase in production. Right now the credit is a source of easy profits for the industry.
The GAO report also correctly called for more rigorous examinations of ethanol’s long-term impact on the environment.
That’s a field ripe for study, mostly because farmers likely will be using more land, water and fertilizers to dramatically increase corn production. The GAO authors fairly point out that changes in crop yield and the use of water conservation techniques could lessen these environmental concerns.
Ultimately, new studies could help determine whether ethanol’s true effect on the environment is more harmful than now thought.
In the short term, getting rid of a tax credit costly to U.S. taxpayers is a needed first step in Washington.
http://voices.kansascity.com/node/6186
ill ethanol's golden subsidy
By The Kansas City Star Editorial Board
Congress has tried to create a charmed life for ethanol and Midwestern corn growers in recent years.
First came a hefty tax credit for producing the renewable fuel. And in late 2007 U.S. lawmakers passed a new standard that requires quadrupling the output of ethanol and other biofuels by 2022.
But this month the federal Government Accountability Office issued a sobering report that questioned the need for the tax credit because it’s not expected to boost ethanol production beyond already-mandated levels.
In reaction, Congress should scrap the 45-cent tax credit that artificially supports each gallon of ethanol.
The credit helps keep out cheaper ethanol from Brazil, boosting the cost of driving for American motorists.
More notably, the tax credit is no longer needed now that Congress has mandated such a large increase in production. Right now the credit is a source of easy profits for the industry.
The GAO report also correctly called for more rigorous examinations of ethanol’s long-term impact on the environment.
That’s a field ripe for study, mostly because farmers likely will be using more land, water and fertilizers to dramatically increase corn production. The GAO authors fairly point out that changes in crop yield and the use of water conservation techniques could lessen these environmental concerns.
Ultimately, new studies could help determine whether ethanol’s true effect on the environment is more harmful than now thought.
In the short term, getting rid of a tax credit costly to U.S. taxpayers is a needed first step in Washington.
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