Ethanol blend pumps and your bike..

[Carlo]

I feel for you guys. Only 5 places in California to buy real gas.

I just took a trip to Idaho and back, and used www.pure-gas.org to get a list of all the gas stations on my route that sell real gas.

My average fuel milage on the trip was 44.3 mpg, with a high for one 190 mile stretch of 48.7 on my Aprilia Caponord. (same engine as the Tuono, Mille, Futura)

Filling up with 10% ethanol, the best I ever got was 42 mpg, and normally below that even.

[Crom]

done

[budman]

Keep on rocking the messages... more the better.. and even better yet.. print a copy and mail it.. some how snail mail gets more important status than and email..

[budman]

Reaching out to City bike readers..

Whatever it takes!!!

[Forwards]

Dear*Mr. Tofa:
*
Thank you for your letter regarding*the Environmental Protection Agency's new requirement that certain gas pumps must dispense greater than four gallons of gasoline at a time.*
*
It is my understanding that this rule was drafted due to concerns from the American Motorcyclist Association.* This rule is intended to ensure that engines that are not able to handle E15 fuel, such as motorcycles and ATVs, do not inadvertently get refueled with this fuel blend.**This requirement is only applied to gas pumps that do not use a separate nozzle for different types of fuel.*I agree that this rule does present a problem for some motorcyclists as well as consumers who wish to only fill up a gas can that is fewer than three gallons.*However, it is my*belief*that gas station owners*should decide for themselves if*employing this type nozzle is good for their customers and their business.*
*
I feel that I should also note that*I am a strong opponent of taxpayer subsidies and federal mandates that benefit the corn ethanol industry.*If we took the*federal government out of the ethanol business, these debates on E15 would most likely not be necessary.*
*

*****************************************************************************Sincerely,
****************************************************************************
**************************************************************************** Pete Stark
**************************************************************************** Member of Congress

[hayabusafiend]

Done.

Iirc, Rep Honda doesnt like it either, and the law gives IMMUNITY to the gas stations for any damage to your vehicle! So when E15 destroys your fuel lines and plastic Ducati tank, you have no recourse.

[bohb]

There's a part of this I don't understand, maybe someone could explain this to me- If I go to fill up and need less than 4 gallons (2 gallons is how much I normally fill up in my bike) Would I be charged for 4 gallons? Is the 4 gallons the estimated/average volume remaining in the hose after someone else fills up? This whole thing doesn't make very much sense.

[CoolBDPhenom03]

Getting an error message after I input my info and click "submit."

[Papi]

Mother Nature is fixing this problem for us. She can be a bitch at times and a diva otherwise, all at the same time.


Drought's effect on corn may push EPA to waive ethanol fuel mandate

Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/a...1_CUTLIN630286
http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/a...1_CUTLIN630286

Higher corn costs, brought on by the most severe U.S. drought in 56 years, has renewed attention on the 5-year-old federal mandate to increase the amount of ethanol blended into gasoline.

The standards call for 13 billion gallons of ethanol this year and almost 14 billion gallons next year.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture earlier this month said the country's corn crop will be the worst in seven years. At the projected level, the ethanol-fuel requirement is expected to translate into more than 40 percent of the country's corn production this year.

Not all corn used by the ethanol industry ends up in gas tanks. About a third of the corn is converted into livestock feed.

Still, the high percentage in the midst of such a devastating drought has gained the attention of ranchers, chicken farmers and the United Nations director-general for food and agriculture, all of whom have called for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to waive the ethanol mandate this year.

Ethanol remains cheaper than gasoline, which encourages refiners to use the biofuel even if the EPA ends the requirement.

A 49 cent-per-gallon discount on gasoline provides companies including Exxon Mobil Corp. and Valero Energy Corp. a chance to profit by blending the corn-based additive into fuel while easing gas prices for consumers.

Marketers may use ethanol as they look for the cheapest way to boost engine performance and reduce pollution. In autos, though, ethanol can be controversial, with critics saying it can be tough on some engine parts and may reduce overall mileage.

The drought has prompted lawmakers from both parties to ask the Obama administration to suspend the mandate because of the potential impact on food costs. Ethanol will consume 42 percent of this year's corn crop, according to government estimates, up from 41 percent last year. The biofuel has been blended into more gasoline than ever this year, Energy Department data show.

"It's just ingrained in the supply and distribution, and it's having a moderating effect on pump prices," John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital LLC, a New York-based hedge fund that focuses on energy, said by phone. "As long as they were still allowed to use it, most would. The lower price and just the logistics of taking it out, most would still use it."

The biofuel recently has been selling for about 15 percent less than the gasoline with which it's mixed, known as RBOB, or reformulated blendstock for oxygenate blending.

A 2007 U.S. law enacted under President George W. Bush known as the Renewable Fuels Standard, or RFS, requires refiners to mix 13.2 billion gallons of renewable fuels, such as ethanol, with gasoline in 2012 and 15 billion gallons by 2015.

On an annual basis, production has averaged 13.6 billion gallons so far this year, above the target. Output has fallen 15 percent from a record 963,000 barrels a day, or a 14.8 billion gallon pace, as of Dec. 30.

The U.S. had the hottest July ever, the government said Aug. 8. Just 23 percent of the corn crop was in good or excellent condition on Aug. 19, the worst assessment for this time of year since 1988, the Agriculture Department said Aug. 20. One bushel of corn makes at least 2.75 gallons of ethanol.

Twelve GOP and 13 Democratic senators asked EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, who enforces the program, to suspend or reduce the country's ethanol targets in an Aug. 7 letter because of the drought.

That followed an Aug. 2 letter in which a bipartisan group of 156 U.S. lawmakers, led by Republican Rep. Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, asked the EPA to cut the requirements. Governors of North Carolina, Arkansas, Maryland, Delaware and Georgia have also called on President Barack Obama to halt the RFS.

The EPA asked Monday for public comments on the waiver requests and said it has 90 days to make a decision.

"This notice is in keeping with EPA's commitment to an open and transparent process to evaluate requests the agency receives under the Clean Air Act and does not indicate any predisposition to a specific decision," the agency said in the Monday statement.

Alisha Johnson, an EPA spokeswoman, said Wednesday that the statement stands.

"From the ethanol blending perspective, it puts ethanol back on the footing that it's a fuel used only if it's economical," said Sander Cohan, a global transportation fuels analyst. "It wouldn't be a complete crash. If you're an ethanol producer, you're a little nervous right now."

The profit for making ethanol has tumbled as corn prices surged to $8.49 a bushel Aug. 10. The so-called crush spread, or profit from making ethanol from corn, for September contracts was minus 31 cents midway through last week, down from 17 cents in May.

Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/a...1_CUTLIN630286

[budman]

Thank u mama.

Temp fix... Pointed.towards the fuckwits that think this is a good thing.

Money grab... Money grab ..approved by our elected officials.

[Gabe]

Hang on--isn't E15 illegal for on-road use in California?

[Papi]

Originally Posted by Gabe

Hang on--isn't E15 illegal for on-road use in California?

Source?



.

[Gabe]

Originally Posted by Papi

Source?



.

http://www.edmunds.com/fuel-economy/...n-the-way.html

"In some states — California prime among them — tight fuel standards aimed at reducing emissions including pollution from evaporation emissions will prohibit E15 altogether. At least for now."

[Papi]

Originally Posted by Gabe

"In some states — California prime among them — tight fuel standards aimed at reducing emissions including pollution from evaporation emissions will prohibit E15 altogether. At least for now."

Gabe, Gabe, Gabe. These are politicians. They don't have to obey the laws they wrote, they just write over them with new laws.

[Marcoose]

Originally Posted by Papi

These are politicians. They don't have to obey the laws they wrote, they just write over them with new laws.

This should go on a t-shirt.