How E85 demand has changed my community

In May of 2006, my wife and I started the search for a home.  As much as we both wanted to move into the city (Chicago), we realized from a financial standpoint, we could get a huge house built for the some price as a two-bedroom condo on the lakefront.  It's always been my dream to have a lake-front condo, but I just could not justify it.  So, we started looking out in the country. 
 
We took a month or so and every weekend in between to search for a home.  We visited about ten new developments looking.  We finally choose Plainfield, IL.  At the time, I had no idea it was as promising as it is from a property appreciation standpoint.  In fact, I didn't know anything about the business, nor mortgages. 
 
Anyway, one of the things we noticed in our travels was that it seemed every other farm in that area had For-Sale signs on it.  "200 Acres for sale," "400 Acres ready for homes," etc.  The first thing that I thought about was, it's a shame that this land is going to all go away and turned into what we were trying to get away from, which was the upcoming overcrowded suburbs of Chicago, which is where we both grew up ( I lived right down the street from Al Capone's former headquarters, which is now a Mexican Clothing Store, which still has the old bank name tiled into the entrance )
 
Despite the obvious of there being a chance of the area we were moving into becoming overcrowded, we decided this is where we should build, so we did, in the largest development in the area, 989 homes divided up into roughly ten subdivisions, with it's own high school and grade school.
 
Well, as the contruction progressed, it quickly became November, and those signs were still up on all the farms, looking for buyers.  We moved in and then winter hit.  Over the next few months, we noticed more and more gas stations having E85 available.  There was a time for a few weeks where E85 was the same price as regular unleaded, which was a little odd to us.  Over the next few months, we noticed on the news that E85 cars were becoming more available and common in our area.  We also noticed something very interesting; the farmers were taking down there "For Sale" signs.  Mind you, there were ALOT of them around.
 
Well, as May and June came, the news was out that corn was in more demand, and it was attributed to E85 demand.  Then we watched more news in June, which said alot of the farmers in the country have converted from growing hops for alcohol to corn because it was going to become so profitable in the next few years.  You guys/girls may or may not have heard this, but the price of Alcohol is expected to rise within the next year because of this.  Our largest gas station in our area (which is fairly new and a car fanatics dream come true) went as far as to take the one E85 pump out, and convert every single pump (about 10 to 15 of them) to pump E85 in place of Mid-Grade octane.  The mid-grade was moved to where the single E85 pump was. 
 
We thought, now THIS it interesting.  Well, guess what? All of those farmers that were trying to sell their land were now growing corn again.  Where there were once people desperate to sell and make their millions, they are now growing again.  This was a relief to me, because our area is officially the fastest growing community in the state, and now rated one of the top 3 places to live in IL.
 
Besides the farmers growing again, our development, which was in theory 2 to 3 years away from being completely sold/completed, is now already sold out.  Even the models are up for sale now.  So, there are only 2 new developments left in our area.  That has been no more new ones started since we moved in.  Our property value has gone up big time, because there is now a demand for homes in that area and hardly an

Mike!!  I wanted to read your post, but it's too damn long.  lol!!

OK I'll shorten it for you (slacker):
 
 
 
E85 gas make equity good 4 house cuz:
 
Farmers grow corn again, not sell land, take off market
 
want to live here? buy house already built, no more new house left
 
 
 
hows that for you

Now that's a post!!!!!!!!!!

Makes Sense!!

Oh Bob, I know you read the SHORT version

from now dude...cliff notes version first please

For the next 2 weeks, starting now, JUST FOR YOU, none of my posts will be more then two words, if that.  Two weeks. 

very interesting , oh by the way i read the whole version

quote:

 "which is now a Mexican Clothing Store" 

That's the problem right there.  Consider this:
 
www.smalltowndefenders.com
 
They take the American Dream and they sh*t on it!  When I moved out to CA twenty some years ago, this place was indeed a paradise.  Well, they took this paradise and sh*t on it too.  Every day is a battle simply because the feds won't enforce the law.  I feel so bad for the small towns across America and I  hope I and all of you can help them in some way to save our nation. 

Man, that's a great story.  I'm so sick of hearing "environmentalists" criticize E85's proliferation...  Who care's if it's not the "best" possible solution to ending dependence on oil?  It's something we can do TODAY to stop making the middle east so rich and help our own farmers and our own environment. 
 
I wish we had it in Jersey and I wish the H3 Alpha was E85 capable... 

Exactly my point.
 
And notice how nobody has talked about the fact that the H3 Alpha uses E85.  Does the standard '08 models do that also?

quote:

ORIGINAL: HummerGuy

Oh Bob, I know you read the SHORT version

 
YUP!!!

While I see ethanol (the E in E85) as a viable fuel source, I don't see it as the silver bullet to solve the perceived energy crisis. It is a good alternative to petroleum fuels, but the at the cost of food for human and animal consumption. Because of all of the interest in ethanol, the cost of corn has risen worldwide and is beginning to have a detrimental effect on the global economy, hitting developing third world countries the hardest. By no means am I a nay-sayer and think ethanol is bad, but it does come with a cost. In my opinion, the path away from petroleum fuels will be paved with hybrid technology, improvements in bio fuels such as ethanol and bio diesel, fuel cell developments, and full electricity power. I don't think any one source will replace petroleum fuels, but a combination of these sources and others yet to be invented and developed will be the solution.

Holy crap........................I had to piss twice and eat once throughout that post.

quote:

ORIGINAL: blackstangs281

Holy crap........................I had to piss twice and eat once throughout that post.

 

Linus, you're right - like I said, it's not "The One" answer, but it's better than what we do today.  I haven't checked out the world corn prices to see the effect yet, but if our E85 production is having an effect on world corn, it's only because of the hype about it and not the actual use so far.  We're the only country doing corn-based E85 and we're really not making much.  Now, as the use proliferates, there's sure to be an impact, but hopefully, that's when we incorporate some other ethanol sources to balance things out. 
 
Obviously, fuel cells seem to hold some great long term potential, as could plug in hybrids, but I think the key for the future is that we have to FIRST move away from our one-mode infrastructure with respect to vehicle fueling...  One of the drawbacks for anything other than gas and diesel is that gas stations don't have the equipment for it and won't put the equipment in until enough people want it to make it worthwhile.  That's why E85 is so good, since you can put cars on the road today that don't use it, but once you get a critical mass of those vehicles on the road, it makes sense for gas stations to look into it.  There's was a lot of research into hydrogen power over the last 20 years, but the biggest problem with it is refueling - it's hard to store, hard to transfer, and it's not available anywhere, so unless you have a car that runs on both hydrogen and gas, you're going to have to have a hydrogen tank at your house to fill up your car and you better not drive too far from home... 

Here is a good article on Bio-fuel and BRAZIL

This article just came out.  We are #5 on the list.
 
http://promo.realestate.yahoo.com/americas_fastest_growing_suburbs.html

I think there are many alternatives that can create a colloboration of fuel sources that would reduce our dependance on foreign oil.  E-85 wont solve our problem, but it will help with a big part of it.  There are many many alternative fuels out there.
 
I never understood the hybrid concept, batteries are very hard to dispose of and very dangerous to not only people (firefighers or rescue workers) but also to the enviroment.

What I have noticed here in North Texas is lots of capped oil wells are being worked, and put back into production.  I guess the price is/or will be what will make a profit for these stripper wells.

E85 FUEL INFORMATION

From the U.S. Department of Energy Handbook for Handling, Storing & Dispensing E85 –

“As concerns about rising gasoline prices and dependence on foreign oil increase, Americans

are looking for alternative fuels like ethanol. Ethanol is better for the environment, is

domestically produced, and its use supports farmers and rural communities. Ethanol is produced

mainly from corn grown in the Midwest. One bushel of corn (approximately 56 pounds)

produces 2.7 gallons of ethanol. Ethanol can also be produced from cheese whey, spilled

beer and dated soda. Because ethanol can be produced from crops, it is classified as a

renewable fuel. By switching to ethanol fuels and advanced vehicle technologies, vehicle

owners are achieving both energy security and cleaner air.”

This creates problems for vehicles without the advanced vehicle technology if someone

“By definition the E10 fuel is a small amount of ethanol (10% by volume) added to the gasoline

we put in our vehicles in order to fulfill federal oxygenate requirements, add octane, and

greatly extend the petroleum fuel supply. E10 is a widely available vehicle fuel and can be

run in vehicles with or without the Flex fuel equipment options.”

E85 fuel is a much higher concentration of ethanol (85% by volume) added to the gasoline.

“E85 fuel requires vehicles that have been specifically designed as flexible fuel vehicles

(FFVs), which can run on either gasoline or E85 fuel.”

“E85 fuel needs more fuel per pound of air than gasoline for proper combustion; therefore,

less energy than one gallon of gasoline.”  
 

As with all liquid fuels, it is vitally important that proper fuel handling techniques be practiced to

prevent fuel contamination. Certain materials commonly used with gasoline are totally incompatible

with alcohols. When these materials (such as aluminum) come into contact with ethanol, they may

dissolve in the fuel, which may damage engine parts and may result in poor vehicle driveability.

Even if parts do not fail, running an ethanol-fueled vehicle with contaminated fuel may cause

deposits that could eventually harm the engine.”

“Some materials become degraded by contact with fuel ethanol blends having high alcohol

concentrations. Zinc, brass, lead and a