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254 comments on Due Diligence: A reader's response to Khosla

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ozonehole on August 13, 2006 - 12:02pm

I still find it strange that Vinod Khosla made no mention of mtbe.

http://www.epa.gov/mtbe/

Ethanol is being touted as a replacement for metbe. Seems to me that if I was investing in ethanol, I'd be considering the size of the market for mtbe, because I think that is the size of the market for ethanol. I can picture a time when all gas stations in America sell E5 or perhaps E10. But realistically, I see no possibility of every gas station carrying E85 - we don't have the ability to produce that much, and it makes no sense to do so.

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DIYer on August 13, 2006 - 12:24pm

It doesn't have to be bio-ethanol, however. Ethanol can be made the same way MTBE is made. But before an ethanol plant is built, the refiners probably want some assurance it won't be shut down next year by politics.

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