History of Ethanol in Motor Fuels

Anonymous CJ has a contribution, which I include verbatim.


Ladies & Gentleman,
    There was an earlier commentary on this subject but some new developments have been added recently. Here is a review:

1. Ethanol in gasoline was a sop to corn farmers proposed in the mid-1970s by then Sen. Birch Bayh. It was mandated in a number of states and called "Gasohol".

2. Late in the 1970's a federal program to reduce unburned hydrocarbons from cars was instituted. It used an oxygenated compound called MTBE - methyl t- butyl ether. It had some positive effect. However, some of the compound entered the potable water supply in California and was immediately banned. The ban quickly became national policy. At that point ethanol became the federally mandated additive to gasoline.

3. By the early 1980's, catalytic converters became required equipment on passenger cars. These and, later, fuel injection completely solved the problem of unburned hydrocarbons from cars. Nevertheless, the mandated use of ethanol continued. It was maintained by the Congressional Representatives and Senators from the farm states.

4. During the early 2000's, the rallying cry for ethanol in gasoline became energy independence. Incidentally, tariffs were put in place back in the 1990's to eliminate the importation of ethanol from the sugar producers in South America. Meanwhile, the Congress in their wisdom increased the requirement for ethanol in gasoline.

5. In 2012, a serious drought reduced the output of corn, and the price of corn rose substantially. As you know, the price of corn flows directly into the prices of meat and other food products. Those prices immediately increased.

6. Earlier this year, the Congress and the Administration very quietly let the tariffs on imported ethanol expire. As a result, large quantities of ethanol flowed into this country from Brazil.

7. Beyond that, crude oil and natural gas production in the United States increased sharply with development of sources in shale strata. This country will become a net exporter of hydrocarbons within the decade.

The serious questions now become: What will be the next political justification for the use of ethanol in gasoline? Should there be one?

Do your own analysis.

CJ