From Reuters, 13th December 2013:
Because propane is used for crop drying, a wet growing season in the Midwest combined with the largest corn yield in U.S. history has greatly increased the demand for propane...Stocks of propane and propylene held in commercial storage across the region have fallen to less than 17 million barrels, well below the range of 21-28 million barrels which is normal at this time of year
And, less than one month later, from the CBC:
A shortage of propane in Ontario and Quebec continues to create hardship for thousands of people who depend on the gas for heat.
Let me get this straight.
ReplyDeleteYou take propane (an energy positive fuel) to dry down corn to make ethanol - an energy negative fuel. And as a consequence, people freeze.
How clever. What next? Are they going to burn gold to create iron pyrite?
Leave it to CBC to parrot the "transportation difficulties" line. Couldn't rely on it to do just a little bit of investigative journalism. could we?
ReplyDeleteA neighbour down the road just got a propane refill at $1.17 per litre. It was 60 cents or so at the start of the heating season. Pays to have a shed full of dry stovewood. At least with all of the farmers slashing down bush to grow more corn for ethanol, stovewood is plentiful and therefore rather cheap per btu.
ReplyDeleteI have a funny feeling that bush-slashing in your part of the country is about to come to a grinding halt, Pepsi G.
DeleteHowever, behind every cloud there is a silver lining. Might be a good time to pick a used track-hoe in the next year or two. :)
I'd like to think that it was only Liberal and NDP arses that are freezing. In any event, they would be too dumb to put 2 and 2 together...or too dishonest to admit that ethanol had anything to do with the state of affairs.
ReplyDeleteIf you Google "midwest propane shortage" you will find that approx. a month ago many corn belt US state Governors declared a state of emergency and allowed the suspension of log hours for any truckers hauling propane into areas without.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile here in Ontario we have the Minister responsible for Rural affairs Premier Wynne handing out food baskets and taxpayer funded grocery cards to people driving BMW SUV's in Toronto because their ice cream melted during that city's ice storm.
That commercial she made (running down the wrong side of the road) must have her running to Sarnia to see if there is any propane left in storage left for home heating after drying all the corn....there will be frozen blood on the walls yet because of the failed green energy policies.
I'm absolutely sure that any day now our ravenous press will set upon wynnebag and destroy her over this Green Energy induced debacle. Any day now...no later than Friday...I'm sure. ..pretty sure...
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