Feeling hosed
Sam's Club doesn't sell real gasoline anymore. They're adding ethanol now. I've been buying gas there for years on my weekly grocery runs and have been getting a steady 27 mpg with every fill up. My ethanol laced fill-ups at Sam's are now yielding just 23 mpg and I'm searching for real gasoline that isn't owned by Hugo Chavez.
5 comments:
please let us know if you find any -- I thought all gas had ethanol in it
I don't think all gas has ethanol, but it is certainly on the increse.
I can't speak to the mpg issue, but Kay, I'm not getting the Chavez reference. The U.S. is the top producer of ethanol. In 2008, we produced 9 billion gallons and imported half a billion. The U.S. is the world's largest producer of ethanol; Brazil (not Chavez' Venezuela) is the second largest. A lot of it comes from Iowa corn. Ethanol is a rapidly growing industry in the U.S. It may have it's problems, but it is certainly good for the U.S. economy and probably makes it less likely we'll depend on foreign oil.
That's why Chavez and Castro were so upset with Bush for expanding ethanol production during his tenure:
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=17&art_id=42053&sid=13091864&con_type=1
Chavez slams Bush ethanol `madness'
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has slammed US President George W Bush's plan to substitute fuel ethanol for gasoline, joining a growing debate on the continent over use of the biofuel.
Cuban leader Fidel Castro recently called the Bush ethanol project a "genocidal" plan that would spawn world hunger, though Brazil's left- leaning government has agreed with the Bush administration to help boost the global use of ethanol.
The United States produces ethanol from corn and Brazil makes the fuel from sugar cane. The two countries intend to promote their products in developing countries.
"Substituting the consumption of gasoline with ethanol produced from corn - it's true madness," said Chavez. "To produce the ethanol necessary to substitute the gasoline consumed only in the United States, it would be necessary to cultivate nearly all the arable land on this continent."
I have noticed many Citgo stations have been rebranded in the last couple of years.
Pilot Oil always had the 10% ethanol "cheap gas" when I was in college in the 80's - and they still do.
I now see stations going out of their way to advertise 100% gasoline. Have also had more than one conversation with auto parts store employees saying they are now selling lots of fuel additives. People see the drop in mileage due to the ethanol and start cleaning injectors, etc.
The only station in our neighborhood that sells real gas is a Citgo. It was my understanding that Citgo is owned by Venezuela which is run in a dictatorial fashion, imo, by Hugo Chavez. I'd rather not support Chavez.
I said this when Gov. Bredesen was touting his switchgrass program. It's foolish to use food producing soil to produce fuel--especially when tapping a few holes is possible. Kinda creepy to think Chavez and I agree on this...but even a stopped clock is right twice a day.
And yup, that little Citgo station in our neighborhood has a sign stating clearly "NO Ethanol in our gas".
Nashteach - ethanol burns more fossil fuel than needed just to make it...if we copied Brazil we would not use corn...we would use whatever Brazil uses -- cane? or we would convert fleets to natural gas.
Ethanol in the US was based on false information --it has been proven as such too...now to find the research...
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