An Unintended Consequence
Part of the problem with todays gasoline prices and shortages is caused by the phase out of MTBE. (Methyl Tert-butyl ether).
MTBE has been used in gasoline since 1979 when tetra-ethyl lead was banned by the government over clean air laws. Apparently the levels used between 1979 and 2002 were low enough not to cause problems
MTBE began being used quite a bit more in some localities because of the Clean Air Act. In order to comply with the Clean Air Act an Oxygenator needed to be added to the gasoline to make it burn cleaner. MTBE was used because it was less expensive plus we didn’t have the capacity to produce enough ethanol.
In fact even today we still don’t have enough ethanol even with all of the effort since 1992.
After the gasoline industry began using MTBE it was found that MTBE could contaminate local water supplies. Because of the liability the gasoline industry will no longer use MTBE which I think is a good thing.
The problem now is that there is a shortage of ethanol. Plenty of gasoline but they can’t sell it.
The behavior of Congress in this matter is shocking. Before they pass a law like the Clean Air Act they should understand the consequences of the law. It takes arrogance to dictate to an industry they don’t understand and won’t listen to. I don’t know if this is what happened but I can picture Congress listening to the enviro-weenies and just leaving it to the gasoline industry to “work it out” when they objected.
I think we can have clean fuels. But to do that you have to listen to the industry, not dictate to them.
So if you live in an area of the country that’s OUT OF GAS remember to thank your Congressman for screwing up the energy industry.
Sell it while it’s still legal. The Lefties want to make everything illegal.
Serrially speaking here. Like the "Gas" jokes but:
I can solve this in 3 steps.
Do what Bush did right after Katrian, suspend all gasolie formulation rules. Stop now. Much of what we expeince in clean air is from Catylitic Converters.
Take the tarrifs off imported ethenotl for 3 years. Make this tarrif twice as high at the end of those three years. Finance ethtnol plants. Pursue celulose eththenol conversion.
Build 10 new refineries in Westrn ND. We (ND) needs the jobs and there are many fewer hurricanes and earthquakes in ND. Pipelines we need pipelines. Lots of Piplines (The Matrix) There’s a lot of new oil in western ND, eastern MT and Alberta coming on line.
MTBE’s are not the answer. Our wells in Illinois smell like a zippo lighter. MTBE. Never a good thing.
Ultimately, the Govonor of MT has the right idea. Using nuclear power to create gasoline from coal. It’s clean and provides all we need. And, this will represent true energy independance. All this mess is temporary.
Google gasoline from coal. And Google Govorner Mt Oil from Coal.
Fascinating
Listen to Free!
I can’t believe I said that.
You should show a little more faith in the free market: the shortages are temporary, our ethanol capacity will increase with demand.
Also, I’ve heard that at least some of the shortages are due to the need to scrub out the storage tanks before making the shift (the MBTE apparently accumulates over time). Americans are awfully impatient with minor inconveniences.
Blame your Congressman regardless of where you live.
Take Bean-o.
But what if I have gas?
Those who don’t know anything about MTBE, go check out the site http://www.mtbelitigationinfo.com and gather some info on MTBE.
GET back to my blog http://mtbe.theblog.cc.
We’ll discuss on anything and everything related to MTBE
No matter what Congress does right, the balance sheet will always show that it did wrong by the people.
Those who don’t know anything about MTBE, go check out the site http://www.mtbelitigationinfo.com and gather some info on MTBE.
GET back to my blog http://mtbe.theblog.cc.
We’ll discuss on anything and everything related to MTBE