Blue-state additive

14 October 2010 By Martin Hutchinson

The EPA s decision to allow 15 pct ethanol in car fuel may help farm state Democrats politically. But it does little good for the environment or the broader economy. Failure by garage owners and motorists to take advantage of their new permission would be the best outcome.

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The Environmental Protection Agency on Oct. 13 approved a boost from 10 percent to 15 percent in the amount of ethanol allowed in fuel for cars and light trucks made in 2007 or later. The new fuel will be known as E15. Ethanol groups expect the EPA to approve E15 for cars built between 2001 and 2006 by December 2010.

The United States produced 10.75 billion gallons of the world's 19.53 billion gallons of ethanol in 2009; Brazil, which produces ethanol from sugar cane, was the world's second largest producer at 6.58 billion gallons.

Most U.S. ethanol is made from corn, whose price recently hit a twoyear high near $6 per bushel after the U.S. Department of Agriculture released unfavorable crop forecasts.

Brazilian sugarbased ethanol has a yield of about 800 gallons/acre, with an output to input energy efficiency of about nine to one, whereas U.S. cornbased ethanol has a productivity of about 350 gallons/acre and an energy efficiency of about 1.4 to one.

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