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["Lynda" <lurine AT softcom.net>]

The subsidy *was* 77 cents/gallon.  They are talking about raising it!  Un 
freaking real!

Lynda
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <Clansgian AT wmconnect.com>
> They have not gotten more efficient and your figures are about right. You 
> get
> the positive BTU yield by saying that the spent mash *can* be used for 
> feed
> stuffs and then adding into the formula all the oil it would take to grow 
> that
> equivalent amount of feed grains.  Several things wrong with this:  The 
> mash
> sours quickly and then must be used very sparaingly as feed.  Unless this 
> has
> changed, distilleries are not located at feedlots so there is the cost of
> handling and hauling the stuff.  For the moat part the feed value of the 
> spent
> grains is theoretical rather than actual.
>
> Keep in mind too that a gallon of ethanol only has 2/3 the btu's of 
> gasoline.
>
> If ethanol were not being heavily subsidized, if it were a business 
> depending
> on profit, it would be bankrupt tomorrow.  And now that gasoline is 
> backing
> off in price and ehtanol can't, who would buy the stuff?  Locally gasoline 
> is
> $2.59 a gallon and E85 is $2.39.  Owing to less btu's and less mileage, if 
> you
> buy the E85 now, you lose.