19 item(s) were returned.
The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), which was recently amended to address numerous criticisms, is again under fire, this time for its potential effect on food prices. The RFS program requires an increasing volume of renewable fuel to be blended into transportation fuel each year and since its implementation in 2005, the US has become the world’s largest producer of ethanol fuel, a corn-based renewable fuel. Yet many RFS critics argue that the mandate is responsible for driving up food prices. The authors of this UC Davis study concluded that “Corn prices were about 30 percent greater between 2006 and 2011… [more]
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A new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency mandate under the Renewable Fuel Standard will require a minimum four-gallon purchase of the E10 ethanol-gasoline blend at service station pumps selling both E10 and E15 fuel from the same hose. E15 is an 85% gasoline, 15% ethanol fuel blend, and has only been approved for use in vehicles manufactured after 2001. Roughly two-thirds of gasoline pumps in U.S. gas stations use one hose to dispense different blends of fuel. This has lead to concerns that residual E15 could end up in the engines of vehicles not designed to run on the higher blend, such… [more]
View InsightAccording to data collected and reported by Bloomberg News, the “U.S. is the closest it has been in almost 20 years to achieving energy self-sufficiency”. In the first 10 months of 2011, 81% of U.S. energy demand was met by domestic sources, up from a record low of 70% in 2005. If the 2011 numbers are accurate, this would be the highest proportion of U.S. energy demand met by domestic sources since 1992. This upward trend in energy self-sufficiency is due in large part to increased oil and natural gas development, and low natural gas prices. “Domestic oil output is… [more]
View InsightJ.C. Ward Jr. Professor of Nuclear Energy Engineering
Cornell University
The President said in his State of the Union Address, “And nowhere is the promise of innovation greater than in American-made energy.” He then talked about opening federal land for oil and gas exploration, implied that relying on foreign oil is not a good thing, and stated, “This country needs an all-out, all-of-the-above strategy that develops every available source of American energy a strategy that’s cleaner, cheaper, and full of new jobs.” Considering the President’s all-of-the-above platform, and the goals implicit in it, we’d be wise to evaluate our national relationship to oil. The U.S. currently produces around 7.6 million… [more]
View InsightOn December 31, 2011 Congress allowed a decades-old corn ethanol subsidy to sunset. It also sunsetted an import tariff on foreign cellulosic ethanol. The dissolution of these policies has prompted some concern about impacts on gasoline prices and the future of the U.S. ethanol industry. Nearly all gasoline blended and sold in the U.S. contains at least 10% corn ethanol. USA Today is reporting that the end of the subsidy could raise gasoline prices by as much as $0.045/gallon as early as next week. In an interview on NPR, Bruce Babcock, a professor of energy economics at Iowa State University,… [more]
View InsightNote: Synopsis based U.S. DOE summary provided to OurEnergyPolicy.org. Complete text US DOE Mission and Goals The mission of the Department of Energy is to ensure America’s security and prosperity by addressing its energy, environmental, and nuclear challenges through transformative science and technology solutions. Goal 1: Catalyze the timely, material, and efficient transformation of the nation’s energy system and secure U.S. leadership in clean energy technologies. Goal 2: Maintain a vibrant U.S. effort in science and engineering as a cornerstone of our economic prosperity with clear leadership in strategic areas. Goal 3: Enhance nuclear security through defense, nonproliferation, and environmental… [more]
View InsightNote: Synopsis based on OurEnergyPolicy.org review of draft legislation as well as media summaries. Synopsis intended solely for purposes of generating discussion. Key provisions of H.R. 1687, the Open Fuel Standard Act of 2011 (as of May 5, 2011) Would require defined percentages of light-duty automobile manufacturer’s inventory to operate on nonpetroleum fuels in addition to, or instead of, petroleum-based fuels along the following timetables 50% of new vehicles in 2014 80% of new vehicles in 2016 95% of new vehicles in 2017 and each subsequent year Qualified vehicles would include passenger automobiles and light-duty motor vehicles which: operate solely… [more]
View InsightNote: Synopses taken from Congressional Research Service summaries. H.R. 1476 & S. 835 H.R. 1476 S. 835 Requires each light-duty automobile manufacturer’s annual covered inventory to comprise at least: 50% fuel choice-enabling automobiles in years 2012-2014; and 80% fuel choice-enabling automobiles in 2015, and in each subsequent year. Requires each light-duty automobile manufacturer’s annual covered inventory to comprise at least: 50% fuel choice-enabling automobiles in years 2012-2014; and 80% fuel choice-enabling automobiles in 2015, and in each subsequent year. Defines “fuel choice-enabling automobile” as: a flexible fuel automobile capable of operating on gasoline, E85, and M85; or an automobile capable… [more]
View Insight[Note: The statements below are intended solely to stimulate discussion among the Expert community, and do not represent the position of OurEnergyPolicy.org. Text in italics indicates clarification or expansion.] Critical policy recommendations mentioned above (Flex fuel GEM mandate, Alternative fuel infrastructure tax credit, and Government vehicle purchase mandate). We must solve the “chicken and egg” problem of the alcohol fuel market by forcing initial demand. Increase the blending mandate of ethanol in the gas that we currently buy to 15%. Mandate fuel blenders to buy any ethanol offered to them until they meet the 15% minimum. Cars can… [more]
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