Econometric Analysis of Motorists’ Preference for Ethanol in Motor Fuel
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The Department of Economic Science was founded in 1898 to teach economic theory as a truth of industrial life, and was very much concerned with applying economics to business and industry, particularly agriculture. Between 1910 and 1967 it showed the growing influence of other social studies, such as sociology, history, and political science. Today it encompasses the majors of Agricultural Business (preparing for agricultural finance and management), Business Economics, and Economics (for advanced studies in business or economics or for careers in financing, management, insurance, etc).
History
The Department of Economic Science was founded in 1898 under the Division of Industrial Science (later College of Liberal Arts and Sciences); it became co-directed by the Division of Agriculture in 1919. In 1910 it became the Department of Economics and Political Science. In 1913 it became the Department of Applied Economics and Social Science; in 1924 it became the Department of Economics, History, and Sociology; in 1931 it became the Department of Economics and Sociology. In 1967 it became the Department of Economics, and in 2007 it became co-directed by the Colleges of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Business.
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1898–present
Historical Names
- Department of Economic Science (1898–1910)
- Department of Economics and Political Science (1910-1913)
- Department of Applied Economics and Social Science (1913–1924)
- Department of Economics, History and Sociology (1924–1931)
- Department of Economics and Sociology (1931–1967)
Related Units
- College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (parent college)
- College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (parent college)
- College of Business (parent college)
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Abstract
The second installment of the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2) requires minimum blending of ethanol and other biofuels into the motor fuel consumed in the United States. The vast majority of gasoline consumed in the United States contains no more than 10 percent ethanol. This gasoline-ethanol blend is conventionally known as E10. The maximum quantity of ethanol that can be blended into the total motor fuel pool through E10 is commonly referred to as the E10 blend wall. The quantity of ethanol mandated by the RFS2 is now reaching the point where it is set to surpass the E10 blend wall.
One solution to the blend wall is the consumption of gasoline blends that contain more than 10 percent ethanol such as E85, which contains no more than 83 and no less than 51 percent ethanol. On average, a gallon of E85 contains about 74 percent ethanol so each gallon of E85 consumed as a substitute for E10 increases aggregate ethanol consumption by about 0.64 gallons (EIA 2015). As such, ethanol consumption can exceed the blend wall if some motorists fuel with E85 instead of E10. However, E85 consumption in the United States has historically been limited, and it is not at the level needed to meet the expanded ethanol mandates.
Comments
This is a Selected Paper prepared for presentation at the 2015 Agricultural & Applied Economics Association and Western Agricultural Economics Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, July 26-28.