rickh's Comments RSS Syndication from SeekingAlpha.com http://seekingalpha.comuser/178279/comments http://seekingalpha.com/article/112103-the-year-in-wind-boom-followed-by-gloom?source=feed#comment-337168 337168 ]]> Tue, 23 Dec 2008 21:33:13 -0500 ]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/98914-study-shows-ethanol-energy-efficiency-is-growing?source=feed#comment-286986 286986
Subby, are you short ethanol or do you have a vested interest in big oil?]]> Tue, 21 Oct 2008 09:32:37 -0400
Subby, are you short ethanol or do you have a vested interest in big oil?]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/98914-study-shows-ethanol-energy-efficiency-is-growing?source=feed#comment-286983 286983
Our oil use is down because the price went through the roof.

Ethanol replaced around 6 billion gallons of oil.]]> Tue, 21 Oct 2008 09:29:13 -0400
Our oil use is down because the price went through the roof.

Ethanol replaced around 6 billion gallons of oil.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/98397-tesoro-corp-sues-state-of-california-on-ethanol-blending-mandate?source=feed#comment-286762 286762 Mon, 20 Oct 2008 20:32:40 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/98914-study-shows-ethanol-energy-efficiency-is-growing?source=feed#comment-286759 286759
What is the $ value of American jobs created by the ethanol industry compared to buying oil from terrorist?]]> Mon, 20 Oct 2008 20:27:51 -0400
What is the $ value of American jobs created by the ethanol industry compared to buying oil from terrorist?]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/98914-study-shows-ethanol-energy-efficiency-is-growing?source=feed#comment-284190 284190
What are you talking about. My point was: Farm subsidies/price supports kept corn prices below $2.95/bushel for years. (years 2000-2007) If ethanol raises corn prices, it saves us tax dollars we would have spent on farm supports.

14 billion bushels of corn per year with an average support cost of 50 cents per bushel is more than this years ethanol subsidy.




]]> Thu, 16 Oct 2008 22:26:30 -0400
What are you talking about. My point was: Farm subsidies/price supports kept corn prices below $2.95/bushel for years. (years 2000-2007) If ethanol raises corn prices, it saves us tax dollars we would have spent on farm supports.

14 billion bushels of corn per year with an average support cost of 50 cents per bushel is more than this years ethanol subsidy.




]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/98397-tesoro-corp-sues-state-of-california-on-ethanol-blending-mandate?source=feed#comment-276319 276319 Tue, 07 Oct 2008 19:36:24 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/98397-tesoro-corp-sues-state-of-california-on-ethanol-blending-mandate?source=feed#comment-274311 274311 Sun, 05 Oct 2008 21:18:17 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/92760-ethanol-our-answer-to-reducing-u-s-dependence-on-foreign-oil?source=feed#comment-255563 255563
E30 is as effecient as gasoline, ane you will soon be able to buy it at a station near you. that is what the article was about.

I never said there was a free lunch. Are you suggesting we stop growing this "non food grade corn?" If we do we have nothing to feed our cows and chickens.]]> Tue, 16 Sep 2008 01:29:57 -0400
E30 is as effecient as gasoline, ane you will soon be able to buy it at a station near you. that is what the article was about.

I never said there was a free lunch. Are you suggesting we stop growing this "non food grade corn?" If we do we have nothing to feed our cows and chickens.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/92760-ethanol-our-answer-to-reducing-u-s-dependence-on-foreign-oil?source=feed#comment-246132 246132
If I buy E30 I have no reduction in, "how far it can move a vehicle," therefore I use 30% less gasoline.

This article points out the big breakthrough in ethanol marketing. No wonder the shorts and ethanol bashers came out in mass. If I can buy E30 and get the same mileage, pay 30 cents a gallon less, send less money to the terrorist, and create less pollution, I will do it every time.]]> Fri, 05 Sep 2008 09:39:14 -0400
If I buy E30 I have no reduction in, "how far it can move a vehicle," therefore I use 30% less gasoline.

This article points out the big breakthrough in ethanol marketing. No wonder the shorts and ethanol bashers came out in mass. If I can buy E30 and get the same mileage, pay 30 cents a gallon less, send less money to the terrorist, and create less pollution, I will do it every time.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/92760-ethanol-our-answer-to-reducing-u-s-dependence-on-foreign-oil?source=feed#comment-245330 245330
Do you know the difference between potential energy and realized energy?]]> Thu, 04 Sep 2008 09:50:20 -0400
Do you know the difference between potential energy and realized energy?]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/92760-ethanol-our-answer-to-reducing-u-s-dependence-on-foreign-oil?source=feed#comment-242848 242848
Methanol is a known carcinigen and poisons the ground water. You cannot substitute it for Ethanol without getting your butt kicked in court. MTBE would have made the Asbestos judgments look small if the oil companies had continued using it.]]> Sun, 31 Aug 2008 19:29:51 -0400
Methanol is a known carcinigen and poisons the ground water. You cannot substitute it for Ethanol without getting your butt kicked in court. MTBE would have made the Asbestos judgments look small if the oil companies had continued using it.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/92760-ethanol-our-answer-to-reducing-u-s-dependence-on-foreign-oil?source=feed#comment-242846 242846 Sun, 31 Aug 2008 19:26:04 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/86400-more-bad-news-for-the-anti-ethanol-crowd?source=feed#comment-227217 227217
Yes, Religious extremist hate our movies and music. They see thier followers making decisions that they don't like. when the Chinese and Indians become the major trading partners of the Middle East, their cultures will start rubbing off too. The Religious Extremist will consider that a threat also. Do you think the Muslims want to see people living Hindu lives in their contry? Have you notice China's stand on religion? They will take some of the focus off of us. This is only my opinion. ]]> Sun, 10 Aug 2008 14:10:49 -0400
Yes, Religious extremist hate our movies and music. They see thier followers making decisions that they don't like. when the Chinese and Indians become the major trading partners of the Middle East, their cultures will start rubbing off too. The Religious Extremist will consider that a threat also. Do you think the Muslims want to see people living Hindu lives in their contry? Have you notice China's stand on religion? They will take some of the focus off of us. This is only my opinion. ]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/86400-more-bad-news-for-the-anti-ethanol-crowd?source=feed#comment-225881 225881
I used to work for a company issued Reg D limited partnerships. We raised money for start ups and expansions. Ethanol companies were coming to us to raise money. One of the entreprenuers told me they were producing so much Corn Syrup that the market could not absorb it all and the price was crashing. They were retrofitting several plants to burn corn syrup in lieu of natural gas at times of over supply. I asked why they did not build wind mills to generate the heat they needed. He said they would in states that allowed them to sell extra capacity back into the grid at a fair price, but this state was not one of those.]]> Fri, 08 Aug 2008 09:15:17 -0400
I used to work for a company issued Reg D limited partnerships. We raised money for start ups and expansions. Ethanol companies were coming to us to raise money. One of the entreprenuers told me they were producing so much Corn Syrup that the market could not absorb it all and the price was crashing. They were retrofitting several plants to burn corn syrup in lieu of natural gas at times of over supply. I asked why they did not build wind mills to generate the heat they needed. He said they would in states that allowed them to sell extra capacity back into the grid at a fair price, but this state was not one of those.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/86400-more-bad-news-for-the-anti-ethanol-crowd?source=feed#comment-220269 220269
Are you saying the war in Iraq was not about oil? What other reason did we have to invade a country that never attacked us?

Can you put a price on the safety of our country? Sending billions of dollars a year to countries that support terrorism makes littles sense to me.

And what is the value of cleaner air?

Ethanol may not be the long term answer, but it will help get us off Mid East oil until plug in electric cars can be developed and made cost effective. It can help cut our trade imbalance. It lowers the amount of air pollution we breath right now.

Right now ethanol is subsidizing gasoline not the other way around. Take a look at this comparison. Alcohol is selling at $1.55 on the spot market. And the refiners and blenders get a $.51/gallon fed subsidy. So their cost is $1.04 plus shipping expenses. NYMEX RBOB says gasoline sells for 3.16 plus shipping. so alcohol is $2.12/gallon cheaper than gasoline, yet E85 sells for $.4 less than gasoline. The refiners are making a higher profit on alcohol than they are on gasoline. That is your tax money subsidizing gasoline.

These are the pump prices in my area yesterday. Your numbers should vary. ]]> Fri, 01 Aug 2008 11:49:18 -0400
Are you saying the war in Iraq was not about oil? What other reason did we have to invade a country that never attacked us?

Can you put a price on the safety of our country? Sending billions of dollars a year to countries that support terrorism makes littles sense to me.

And what is the value of cleaner air?

Ethanol may not be the long term answer, but it will help get us off Mid East oil until plug in electric cars can be developed and made cost effective. It can help cut our trade imbalance. It lowers the amount of air pollution we breath right now.

Right now ethanol is subsidizing gasoline not the other way around. Take a look at this comparison. Alcohol is selling at $1.55 on the spot market. And the refiners and blenders get a $.51/gallon fed subsidy. So their cost is $1.04 plus shipping expenses. NYMEX RBOB says gasoline sells for 3.16 plus shipping. so alcohol is $2.12/gallon cheaper than gasoline, yet E85 sells for $.4 less than gasoline. The refiners are making a higher profit on alcohol than they are on gasoline. That is your tax money subsidizing gasoline.

These are the pump prices in my area yesterday. Your numbers should vary. ]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/86400-more-bad-news-for-the-anti-ethanol-crowd?source=feed#comment-220232 220232
I am curiously watching the run up in grain prices to see if the WTO was correct. Market forces pushed the price of grains above the US support levels. Lets see if this has the positive effect on world wide grain production they said it would.

I would like to restate that I have no illusions of ever getting to 80% ethanol in our liquid fuels. Ethanol has it's best economics at 20-30% of the gasohol mix. Cars with computerized timing and airflow sensors see little drop in miles per gallon when using up to 30% alcohol. So forget your 1-1.5 ration. In Brazil you choose your ethanol to gas ratio based on the price of each and what your car likes.

Dear subs ethanol which you say has been around for 20 years has really been around for about 100. An honest attempt to go large scale is only a couple of years old. Oil has come close to crushing it several times. They chose to use MTBE because it was a petroleum product. Thanks for the toxic ground water big oil.

I am in favor of lowering the tariff on imported ethanol over time. 1-5 years. Good luck to Brazil on the WTO taking their side. It has not helped us open China's markets no matter how many times the WTO has sided with America.

Dear subsidy eye. Allow me to point out. Ethyl Alcohol comes from organic distillation. Ethanol is a fuel made from mixing alcohol and gasoline, it is not blend percentage specific. You use the word Ethanol when referring to alcohol and every blend of alcohol/gasoline. This makes it difficult to fact check or follow what you are saying. ]]> Fri, 01 Aug 2008 11:27:50 -0400
I am curiously watching the run up in grain prices to see if the WTO was correct. Market forces pushed the price of grains above the US support levels. Lets see if this has the positive effect on world wide grain production they said it would.

I would like to restate that I have no illusions of ever getting to 80% ethanol in our liquid fuels. Ethanol has it's best economics at 20-30% of the gasohol mix. Cars with computerized timing and airflow sensors see little drop in miles per gallon when using up to 30% alcohol. So forget your 1-1.5 ration. In Brazil you choose your ethanol to gas ratio based on the price of each and what your car likes.

Dear subs ethanol which you say has been around for 20 years has really been around for about 100. An honest attempt to go large scale is only a couple of years old. Oil has come close to crushing it several times. They chose to use MTBE because it was a petroleum product. Thanks for the toxic ground water big oil.

I am in favor of lowering the tariff on imported ethanol over time. 1-5 years. Good luck to Brazil on the WTO taking their side. It has not helped us open China's markets no matter how many times the WTO has sided with America.

Dear subsidy eye. Allow me to point out. Ethyl Alcohol comes from organic distillation. Ethanol is a fuel made from mixing alcohol and gasoline, it is not blend percentage specific. You use the word Ethanol when referring to alcohol and every blend of alcohol/gasoline. This makes it difficult to fact check or follow what you are saying. ]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/86400-more-bad-news-for-the-anti-ethanol-crowd?source=feed#comment-219771 219771
Other transfers includes the profit of the corn industry? Would you prefer that money transfer to Middle East oil companies?

By your definition of transfer, or subsidy, where does military cost to protect the oil suppliers and shipping lanes fall in. I think the cost of the Iraq war has been something like $1.5 trillon. That makes ethanol look cheap.

Long therm, electric is the goal for consumer transportation. That is years away. if we could get to 80/20 gas ethanol and cut our overall liquid fuel consumption, which $4 gas is making happen, we can drasticly shink the amount of money flowing out of our economy.

We can cut our trade imbalance if we use all of the clubs in our bag. Parts of the country with corn or switch gras can use ethanol. Places with abundant Natural gas will see fleet owners use Natural gas, think UPS. Coastal regions without corn or NG like the North East could import ethanol from Brazil. Brazil likes us. Hybrid cars followed by plug in hybrids will ease our problem maybe solve it, untill plug in electric can be made cost effective to manufacture.

Which energy industry does not get a government subsidy? Wind and solar get tax breaks, those are subsidies. Oil and gas get preferential tax treatment on depreciation. That is a subsidy. Home owners get a tax deduction for making their home more fuel efficient. that is a subsidy. Our tax system is a carrot/whip senerio. Ethanol is less harmful than buying oil from countrys that hate us. Oil causes most of our air polution therefore I don't mind it being punitively taxed. I wish it was.

Why would electric cars be unpopular with Detroit? GM will be making them. Battery technology is the only thing keeping GM from rolling out an electric car today.

Also, several oil companies are keen of E85? Without the mandates oil compaines would not put alcohol in their fuel. They do not want to let ADM and Monsanto have a piece of their monopoly.

]]> Thu, 31 Jul 2008 20:45:03 -0400
Other transfers includes the profit of the corn industry? Would you prefer that money transfer to Middle East oil companies?

By your definition of transfer, or subsidy, where does military cost to protect the oil suppliers and shipping lanes fall in. I think the cost of the Iraq war has been something like $1.5 trillon. That makes ethanol look cheap.

Long therm, electric is the goal for consumer transportation. That is years away. if we could get to 80/20 gas ethanol and cut our overall liquid fuel consumption, which $4 gas is making happen, we can drasticly shink the amount of money flowing out of our economy.

We can cut our trade imbalance if we use all of the clubs in our bag. Parts of the country with corn or switch gras can use ethanol. Places with abundant Natural gas will see fleet owners use Natural gas, think UPS. Coastal regions without corn or NG like the North East could import ethanol from Brazil. Brazil likes us. Hybrid cars followed by plug in hybrids will ease our problem maybe solve it, untill plug in electric can be made cost effective to manufacture.

Which energy industry does not get a government subsidy? Wind and solar get tax breaks, those are subsidies. Oil and gas get preferential tax treatment on depreciation. That is a subsidy. Home owners get a tax deduction for making their home more fuel efficient. that is a subsidy. Our tax system is a carrot/whip senerio. Ethanol is less harmful than buying oil from countrys that hate us. Oil causes most of our air polution therefore I don't mind it being punitively taxed. I wish it was.

Why would electric cars be unpopular with Detroit? GM will be making them. Battery technology is the only thing keeping GM from rolling out an electric car today.

Also, several oil companies are keen of E85? Without the mandates oil compaines would not put alcohol in their fuel. They do not want to let ADM and Monsanto have a piece of their monopoly.

]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/88364-updates-on-networking-sector-f5-juniper-akamai?source=feed#comment-219753 219753 Thu, 31 Jul 2008 20:05:01 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/86400-more-bad-news-for-the-anti-ethanol-crowd?source=feed#comment-218288 218288
Oil is not a monopoly? go put something other than gasoline in your car today. Go to your local car dealer and try to buy a car that runs on something other than gasoline. Try to fill your natural gas car every place you want to go. No single company has a monopoly, but the industry has a monopoly on our motor fuel.

Last year we used 7 billion gallons of ethanol. Using .51 gallon for the subsidy that is only $3.5 billion in subsidies. Look at the farm subsidies the last year corn did not excede the government floor price of $2.95 bushel. Farm subsidies were over $8 billion dollars.

I do not understand your comment "Other transfers in the industry" are you making this up as you go along?

I would do away with the subsidies over the next 5 years and keep the mandates in place. Ethanol is already cheaper than gas, the refiners and mixers need no financial ncentive to use it.]]> Wed, 30 Jul 2008 10:08:46 -0400
Oil is not a monopoly? go put something other than gasoline in your car today. Go to your local car dealer and try to buy a car that runs on something other than gasoline. Try to fill your natural gas car every place you want to go. No single company has a monopoly, but the industry has a monopoly on our motor fuel.

Last year we used 7 billion gallons of ethanol. Using .51 gallon for the subsidy that is only $3.5 billion in subsidies. Look at the farm subsidies the last year corn did not excede the government floor price of $2.95 bushel. Farm subsidies were over $8 billion dollars.

I do not understand your comment "Other transfers in the industry" are you making this up as you go along?

I would do away with the subsidies over the next 5 years and keep the mandates in place. Ethanol is already cheaper than gas, the refiners and mixers need no financial ncentive to use it.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/87889-oil-prices-finally-changing-consumer-behavior?source=feed#comment-218264 218264
Should oil be required to stand on it's own without subsidies? ]]> Wed, 30 Jul 2008 09:56:04 -0400
Should oil be required to stand on it's own without subsidies? ]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/80537-ethanol-is-oversold-three-bounce-stocks-barron-s?source=feed#comment-182213 182213 Dear Maverick,

I spent three years as a chemistry major before I decided what I wanted to do for a living. Do you know what the flash point of gasoline is? Do you know what percentage of the gas you put in your car is actualy burned? You only burn approximatly 35% of the potential energy in gasoline because your engine cannot function at the temperature required to burn a higher percentage. The rest comes out of your tailpipe as particulate matter, we call it polution. You burn 98% of the potential enery in alcohol because it has a lower flash point temperature, that is why it burns cleaner. When you mix alcohol with gasoline the mixture has a lower flash point than does pure gasoline. It also helps that my car has very high compression and loves the higher octane. Imagine what the auto manufactures could do it they could count on higher octane at the pump.


I did get excited in 1988 when the University of Utah said they had success with cold fusion. I no longer believe anything comming out of Utah.
]]> Tue, 10 Jun 2008 00:11:03 -0400 Dear Maverick,

I spent three years as a chemistry major before I decided what I wanted to do for a living. Do you know what the flash point of gasoline is? Do you know what percentage of the gas you put in your car is actualy burned? You only burn approximatly 35% of the potential energy in gasoline because your engine cannot function at the temperature required to burn a higher percentage. The rest comes out of your tailpipe as particulate matter, we call it polution. You burn 98% of the potential enery in alcohol because it has a lower flash point temperature, that is why it burns cleaner. When you mix alcohol with gasoline the mixture has a lower flash point than does pure gasoline. It also helps that my car has very high compression and loves the higher octane. Imagine what the auto manufactures could do it they could count on higher octane at the pump.


I did get excited in 1988 when the University of Utah said they had success with cold fusion. I no longer believe anything comming out of Utah.
]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/75780-ethanol-will-become-a-fad-without-government-intervention?source=feed#comment-162542 162542
How did you receive enough credibility to get your picture attached to your opinions? Politicians crying 'the sky is falling' is neither news nore prudent energy policy. Ethanol has very little to do with the price of food. Please explain how ethanol made the price of apples go up. Diesel fuel increases made the price of apples go up! Increased health care cost of every company and person that handled that apple made that apple more expensive. Farmers sell corn for 11 cents per pound. that is after the price of everything they use to grow the stuff has gone up in price.

I would like to know who you work for. If you are just a paid basher, we have the right to know. What are your credentials?]]> Tue, 06 May 2008 09:37:23 -0400
How did you receive enough credibility to get your picture attached to your opinions? Politicians crying 'the sky is falling' is neither news nore prudent energy policy. Ethanol has very little to do with the price of food. Please explain how ethanol made the price of apples go up. Diesel fuel increases made the price of apples go up! Increased health care cost of every company and person that handled that apple made that apple more expensive. Farmers sell corn for 11 cents per pound. that is after the price of everything they use to grow the stuff has gone up in price.

I would like to know who you work for. If you are just a paid basher, we have the right to know. What are your credentials?]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/75780-ethanol-will-become-a-fad-without-government-intervention?source=feed#comment-162534 162534
]]> Tue, 06 May 2008 09:27:46 -0400
]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/73801-ethanol-driving-pump-narrowing-of-refining-margin?source=feed#comment-155794 155794 Thu, 24 Apr 2008 09:10:37 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/72042-china-s-non-grain-ethanol-push-should-benefit-sino-forest?source=feed#comment-150780 150780 Please explain how using wood waste for fuel will send the price of food to the moon.

My car gets better mileage when I buy the fuel with 10% ethanol.]]> Mon, 14 Apr 2008 21:49:16 -0400 Please explain how using wood waste for fuel will send the price of food to the moon.

My car gets better mileage when I buy the fuel with 10% ethanol.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/72112-big-oil-once-again-abused-by-congress?source=feed#comment-150777 150777
Chavez is pumping 30% as much oil? He is getting four times as much money for it. I guess he is smarter than you.]]> Mon, 14 Apr 2008 21:40:24 -0400
Chavez is pumping 30% as much oil? He is getting four times as much money for it. I guess he is smarter than you.]]>