E.P.A. Fines For Not Using Unavailable Biofuel

**Gwynplaine** · 2012-01-20 02:17

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/10/bu...20using&st=cse

When the companies that supply motor fuel close the books on 2011, they will pay about $6.8 million in penalties to the Treasury because they failed to mix a special type of biofuel into their gasoline and diesel as required by law.

But there was none to be had. Outside a handful of laboratories and workshops, the ingredient, cellulosic biofuel, does not exist.

Penalizing the fuel suppliers demonstrates what happens when the federal government really, really wants something that technology is not ready to provide.

Never mind if its impossible, just do it or else! These magic unicorn fuels don't pay for themselves so the money to fund them has to come from some where. Let's make the practical fuel providers suffer for it.

By setting a quota, she added, “we avoid a situation where real cellulosic biofuel production exceeds the mandated volume,” which would weaken demand.

So you got that? They had to set an unrealistic quota so that they don't make too much, for fear of weak demand for a product who's only demand is justified by threat of enormous fines or jail time.

Undoubtedly this is pragmatic "reasoning" on the part of biofuel advocates who have been criticized for the fiasco that is ethanol screwing up the grain supplies.

Yet other cellulosic fuel efforts have faltered. A year ago, after it was offered more than $150 million in government grants, Range Fuels closed a commercial factory in Soperton, Ga., where pine chips were to be turned into fuel alcohols, because it ran into technological problems.

Another Solyndra and millions of produced wealth squandered. As all such forcibly subsidized ventures wind up. But maybe the next billion subsidized dollars will really, really, seriously lead to the discovery of how to turn lead into gold.

**archibaldcrane** · 2012-01-20 02:25

Government provides risky startups capital with the goal of advancing human progress and they fail: squandered wealth

Bain Capital provides risky startups capital with the goal of profit and they fail: the glorious free market

**archibaldcrane** · 2012-01-20 02:30

ITT: Something that was first produced in 1898 doesn't exist.

Damn you GWB for working to solve our dependence on foreign oil! Damn you!!!

**Cadsuane** · 2012-01-20 14:48

To be fair here, biofuel really is a shitty alternative energy source that only makes sense to status quo preservers.

**archibaldcrane** · 2012-01-20 15:10

Originally Posted by Cadsuane

To be fair here, biofuel really is a shitty alternative energy source that only makes sense to status quo preservers.

you're lumping every type of biofuel into this statement?

**Restrat** · 2012-01-20 15:12

maybe if we had the climate / sun of Brazil and could grow sugar cane and switch-grass it would be helpful, but currently it's not very good

**Talint** · 2012-01-20 15:14

How much do the oil companies get in subsidies again?

**archibaldcrane** · 2012-01-20 15:14

I wonder if providing a market for said fuels and funding their research could make it better?

nah

**Restrat** · 2012-01-20 15:19

That's what we did. These fines are based on the assumption that tons of funding and subsidies would have created a worthwhile form of biofuel that we could produce here by the time they went into effect- but no one was able to.

edit: grammar

**archibaldcrane** · 2012-01-20 15:20

should just give up probably

**archibaldcrane** · 2012-01-20 15:22

literally with all the tax breaks and subsidies big oil receives, i'm not going to cry a river for them having to pay a paltry fine given the technological innovation we are trying to foster.

**Talint** · 2012-01-20 15:24

All I'm saying is, they went to congress and cried about taking subsidies away. "$6.8 million in penalties" is a drop in the bucket for money the government is already giving them.

^---archi beat me to it

**Ashmada** · 2012-01-20 19:31

Funny. Here, they manage to incorporate biofuel at the pump, they've had to since 2006 (4%, increased to 6% in 2010). And we really don't have the climate of Brazil...

**RKenshin** · 2012-01-20 19:35

This isn't really anything new.

Not quite sure whether I support or oppose it yet, or how I may do it differently... But the government has always been attempting to encourage and provide incentives for innovation, particularly in major areas like energy that have become a significant crutch for our country on all fronts (economic, foreign relations, etc).

Imposing fines/penalties/mandates is a more recent trend, but still not unheard of. Every car manufacturer is required to have a rising average MPG of the cars they produce each year (supposed to be like 35MPG by 2020 or something?), or the cash for clunkers program that literally destroyed hundreds of thousands of lower MPG cars, etc.

Criticize it all you want but honestly, one thing I do know is that if the government didn't step in on that part I really question whether you'd see as many higher MPG cars as there are now. Average MPG of a year's production line was largely stagnant (actually even decreasing over many years, thanks to the obsession with bigbigbig cars) for most of the past 40 years up until the most recent ~5 where these policies came in. Of course, the policies also came in with exponentially higher gas prices, so one could argue over what really had the biggest effect... but the point still stands.

**archibaldcrane** · 2012-01-20 19:58

Originally Posted by Ashmada

Funny. Here, they manage to incorporate biofuel at the pump, they've had to since 2006 (4%, increased to 6% in 2010). And we really don't have the climate of Brazil...

Not sure where you're at, but they incorporate corn ethanol into american gasoline as well. However, corn ethanol is pretty stupid and terrible. The cellulosic ethanol we're talking about in this thread is much better for greenhouse gasses:

According to U.S. Department of Energy studies[1] conducted by Argonne National Laboratory of the University of Chicago, one of the benefits of cellulosic ethanol is that it reduces greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by 85% over reformulated gasoline. By contrast, starch ethanol (e.g., from corn), which most frequently uses natural gas to provide energy for the process, may not reduce GHG emissions at all depending on how the starch-based feedstock is produced.

Demosthenes11 · 2012-01-20 19:58

cunts like OP use this shit when they argue the EPA should be ended

**Jaybar** · 2012-01-21 11:44

Yet the problem isn't finding alternative fuels, the problem is our dependence on cars. This is most pertinent for those that live in post WWII developments. While I do not disagree with the idea of finding alt. fuels for lower emissions, we need to start reducing our dependence on the car and switch to other more efficient means of transportation (whether living in a pedestrian-friendly urban community or living close to work) if we really want to lower emissions and be sustainable. See Jim Kunstler.

**RKenshin** · 2012-01-21 14:09

Originally Posted by Jaybar

Yet the problem isn't finding alternative fuels, the problem is our dependence on cars. This is most pertinent for those that live in post WWII developments. While I do not disagree with the idea of finding alt. fuels for lower emissions, we need to start reducing our dependence on the car and switch to other more efficient means of transportation (whether living in a pedestrian-friendly urban community or living close to work) if we really want to lower emissions and be sustainable. See Jim Kunstler.

I agree, sad though that massive public transportation reform bills the government proposes just get looked at as a silly waste of money and effort... despite not only providing a great deal of temporary jobs, but many permanent jobs, stimulating the economy, and improving infrastructure.

**Ragnus** · 2012-01-23 11:26

Yes, but having a great public transport system cuts big oil off at the knees and we can't have that.

**dejet** · 2012-01-23 11:41

NYC has a amazing public trans system, and everyone owns a car that can pay to keep one parked lol. That wont stop people from buying cars and using them. Unless we get a crazy bullet train system I do not see how public systems will really help all that much they are just way to slow even when they beef up the amount of trains.

Hell People complain at my job about the bus and how they want a car. The bus stops every 15min at my job >.> lol Trains are not as good, but for the most part you can get a train that goes to your line at least once every 30min up till about 9PM

Im still all for cutting our need on oil, but it be a big ass amount of money spent that I dont think would really work. USA is not japan/EU. People like their cars lol

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