Mystery Spot for Cheap Gas

Most gas prices in the Raleigh, NC and the surrounding area is around $1.59. There is one area, not too far from Raleigh where the gas prices literally have been dropping day by day. I have watched the gas prices in Zebulon, NC drop by 15 cents over the weekend.

Exxon Station Zebulon, NC by Piggly Wiggly

BP Station Zebulon, NC by Hardee's and Burger King

Walmart Zebulon, NC

Rising Gas Prices After Election

As with all political elections, the compensation for all of the presidential elections is the lower gas prices we are “rewarded” for putting up with phone calls, TV and radio ads as well as pop-up ads on the internet that convinces us to vote for the candidate who least annoys us.  

No exception this year and just as soon as the election was finished the gas prices began to climb back up again. Living here in North Carolina I can only imagine how high these prices could get although I do know from a dear friend in California that they are currently paying over $4 a gallon. 

Why Fuel Cost So Much

Federal regulations can be maddening, but none more so than a current one that demands oil refiners use millions of gallons of a substance, cellulosic ethanol, that does not exist.

"As ludicrous as that sounds, it's fact," says Charles Drevna, who represents refiners. "If it weren't so frustrating and infuriating, it would be comical."

And Tom Pyle of the Institute of Energy Research says, "the cellulosic biofuel program is the embodiment of government gone wild."

Refiners are at their wit's end because the government set out requirements to blend cellulosic ethanol back in 2005, assuming that someone would make it. Seven years later, no one has.

"None, not one drop of cellulosic ethanol has been produced commercially. It's a phantom fuel," says Pyle. "It doesn't exist in the market place."

And Charles Drevna adds, "forcing us to use a product that doesn't exist, they might as well tell us to use unicorns."

And yet, they still have to pay what amounts to fines:

"Why would they ask them to blend any at all if it doesn't exist?" Pyle said. "Because they know that they can squeeze some extra dollars out of them."

The EPA does have discretion to lower the annual requirement. And one supporter explains, that's what the agency is saying.

"We are going to reduce your blending obligation by 98 percent because we feel that that’s the right thing to do," says Brooke Coleman, the executive director of the Advanced Ethanol Council of the Renewable Fuels Association. "We are going to maintain your blending obligation on the gallons that we think are going to emerge."

The EPA, which would not speak on camera, is still hoping production of cellulosic ethanol will emerge.

A study by the Congressional Research Service, however, says the government "projects that cellulosic bio fuels are not expected to be commercially available on a large scale until at least 2015."

Drevna of the refiners association says they had no other choice left since EPA insisted they still had to blend some of the nonexistent cellulosic ethanol.

"We've had to go to the courts and litigate this thing is because they just turned a blind eye to us," Drevna said.

So the refiners are now suing the EPA, in part because the mandate gets larger and larger-- 500 million gallons this year, 3 billion in 2015 and 16 billion in 2022.

And still, not a gallon of cellulosic ethanol in sight.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/06/21/regulation-requires-oil-refiners-use-millions-gallons-fuel-that-is-nonexistent/#ixzz1yWjZaPB2

Got Gas?

In a couple of post recently regarding my car problems, I have done some research with many people saying about the same thing. Depending on what type of car it is, what the manufacturer says which fuel to use and which gas stations one uses all affects the performance of the car.

When I finally got my car working right again, I stopped getting fuel at many gas stations that have ethanol mixed in with the fuel. I have tried a few different gas stations fuel to see which one gives my car better performance. That led me to Fleet Fuels in Wendell, NC. Their gas prices are the highest in the whole area but it came with an unexpectant benefit.

I am paying $4 dollars a gallon for the highest grade of gas. After two complete fuel ups so far I have noticed that my gas millage has improved and the sound of the engine’s roar has come back. This has led to an important decision for me. Pay a great deal more for gas and get a better running and sounding motor or go to a less expensive gas station but lose those benefits?

The expensive gas would mean less major car problems later on in its life. But using a different gas station, I would spend less but risk paying more for future car problems later on.  For now I’ll keep using the expensive gas at Fleet Fuels for two personnel important reasons.

The first one is that I feel safer knowing the engine is running on a more cleaner type of grade of fuel. The second is that I just love hearing the sound of that engine coming back to live as I drive on the freeway.

Past articles:

1st

2nd

WRAL TV article

Un Ethanol Behavior

Recently with all the problems with my car being connected to the Sheetz gas station cleared up, I was able to move on with other things in my life. But yesterday I met the mechanic who worked on my car and informed me on problems other people were experiencing the same problem I had.

The culprit; ethanol. Older vehicles cannot handle ethanol as it clogs up the fuel injectors. It took two large bottles of the cleaning agent to get all the knocks and kinks out of the engine. I was lucky because many more people had to have their entire system taken out and cleaned. But that day he told me something that most people do not seem to know or once they do they forget about it.

There are many different grades of gasoline sold here in America. People are mainly used to seeing three of these grades when they are at the gas station. Four if you count diesel. At this man garage, he has a contract with the town to service all the police and city equipment. To handle their needs he has to carry the highest grade of gas there is to better handle these vehicles. And that means it’s a bit more expensive than the usual price of gas. But the payoff is the increase gas millage and a cleaner engine one can get that using the cheapest gas.

So now I’m trying out his gas to see if paying more will come out better for my car in the long run. But I do know that I’ll never get any gas from a gas station that has ethanol in it. News Story about this gas station click here.

Gas at Atlantic Beach, North Carolina