Current Gas Vs. Ethanol Prices (Oct. 19, 2012)

Ethanol Vs. Gas Price

The below pink line is the commodity/wholesale price of 100% ethanol (E-100). But as a N.Y. Times story explains, ethanol gets less MPG than gasoline. The green line adjusts (increases the price) for the lower energy efficiency of ethanol, allowing an "Apples to Apples" comparison with the wholesale price of gas (blue line). The red line is the average of all U.S. retail pump prices of gasoline.Retail Gasoline Prices: As the below map shows, the...

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High Oil & Gas Prices -- The Real Issues.

oil prices

For decades, politicians have been promising America oil independence AND lower gasoline prices. But instead of more promises, we need some straight talk on expectations, global realities, and the tough choices we face. The real policy issues that drive today's high oil prices are the consequences of war and a suffocating federal debt -- anything else is a diversion.  Can We "Drill Baby Drill" to $2 Gas?: A major diversion used in campaign...

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Current Ethanol Vs. Gas Prices (July 6, 2012)

Ethanol Vs. Gas Price

The below pink line is the commodity/wholesale price of ethanol. But as a N.Y. Times story explains, ethanol gets less MPG than gasoline. The green line adjusts (increases the price) for the lower energy efficiency of ethanol, allowing an "Apples to Apples" comparison with the wholesale price of gas (blue line). The red line is the average U.S. retail pump price of gasoline.Current Retail Gasoline Prices by RegionThe Bad News: On July 6 -- the...

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Why Oil &Gas Prices are High in 5 Pictures (Updated)

Update: British Petroleum (BP) has released an excellent 2 minute overview using pictures of what's occurring in world energy markets on YouTube. Also, World oil prices (Brent) have dropped to $89 per barrel. (1) History: After decades of stable oil prices, beginning in the early 2000's the combination of several drivers have fundamentally changed global oil markets: (1) Ongoing war and political unrest in the Middle East; (2) Devaluation of...

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Simulation is the best way to allocate trucks to shovels in open-pit mine operations

1. The problemEfficient open-pit mine operations maintain a steady ore feed to the extraction plant (the �bottleneck� as stated in one of my previous postings in this BLOG). This can be guaranteed by allocating sufficient resources (trucks and shovels) to the appropriate circuits. Since hauling represents 50% or more of the total operating costs, economic penalties are incurred when extra resources are assigned. Therefore, an important operational...

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Current Ethanol Vs. Gas Prices (May 25, 2012)

Ethanol Vs. Gas Price

Tracking gasoline prices versus ethanol prices. The pink line is the commodity price of ethanol (which has less efficiency than gas, E-0). The green line line adjusts for this lower efficiency, allowing an "Apples to Apples" comparison with the commodity RBOB price of gas (the blue line). The red line is the average retail price of gasoline in U.S. As of May 25, 2012 -- ethanol (adjusted for efficiency) is 8� per gallon higher than gasoline on a...

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Current Ethanol Vs. Gas Prices (May 11, 2012)

Ethanol Vs. Gas Price

Tracking gasoline prices versus ethanol prices. The pink line is commodity price of ethanol (which has less efficiency than gas, E-0). The green line line adjusts for this lower efficiency, allowing an "Apples to Apples" comparison with the commodity RBOB price of gas (the blue line). The red line is the average retail price of gasoline in U.S. As of May 11, 2012 -- ethanol (adjusted for efficiency) and gasoline are exactly equal ($3.00) on a wholesale...

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Current Ethanol Vs. Gas Prices (5/04/12)

Ethanol Vs. Gas Price

Tracking gasoline prices versus ethanol prices. The pink line is commodity price of ethanol (which has less efficiency than gas, E-0). The green line line adjusts for this lower efficiency, allowing an "Apples to Apples" comparison with the commodity RBOB price of gas (the blue line). The red line is the average retail price of gasoline in U.S. As of May 4, 2012 -- ethanol is about 16� per gallon more expensive than gasoline on a wholesale price...

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Current Ethanol Vs. Gas Prices (4/20/2012)

Ethanol Vs. Gas Price

Tracking gasoline prices versus ethanol prices. The pink line is commodity price of ethanol (which has less efficiency than gas, E-0). The green line line adjusts for this lower efficiency, allowing an "Apples to Apples" comparison with the commodity RBOB price of gas (the blue line). The red line is the average retail price of gasoline in U.S. As of April 20, 2012 -- ethanol is about 8� per gallon cheaper than gasoline on a wholesale price comparison....

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Is it possible to accurately estimate production in mining operations?

1. Mines are �Complex Systems�Mine operations consist of multiple �stochastic dependent processes� interconnected through a wide range of complex relationships. Let�s analyze this proposition.1.1. Mining processes are stochastic in natureVariability is inherent to mining operations. Each mining process is subject to variability. Examples of this inherent variability are:Time to load truck 'A' is not equal to the time to load truck 'B'. Travel...

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Where should the 'bottleneck' be located in mine operations? . . . crusher conveyor, shovels, trucks?

What is a bottleneck?A 'bottleneck' is a stage of the production chain (a sub-process), that constraints the throughput of the whole process. Its capacity is smaller than the capacity of the up-stream and down-stream sub-processes.Why bottlenecks appear?When a process has no variability (as in bottling lines) there are no bottlenecks. However, in the presence of variability bottlenecks constitute an inevitable fact. It is the nature of the beast!...

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