In Colorado a gallon is not a gallon?

[Ray,IN]

house bill 93-1114 permits diesel fuel and gasoline to be sold in "gallon equivalents" according to BTU content. This bill says this fair to fuel retailers and distributors. What's fair about that for consumers?

[Ray,IN]

house bill 93-1114 permits diesel fuel and gasoline to be sold in "gallon equivalents" according to BTU content. This bill says this fair to fuel retailers and distributors. What's fair about that for consumers?

[adj]

It appears to me they are trying to level the playing field. By stating minimum BTU requirements, they are effectively addressing the alternative fuel situation with regard to number of BTUs per gallon volume (i.e., E85 versus regular gas).

[RustyJC]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Ray,IN:
house bill 93-1114 permits diesel fuel and gasoline to be sold in "gallon equivalents" according to BTU content. This bill says this fair to fuel retailers and distributors. What's fair about that for consumers? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Actually, what's not fair is that, if you buy a "gallon" of E-85, you get far fewer BTUs than are contained in a gallon of gasoline, which results in substantially higher fuel consumption for the E-85. Since the E-85's energy content per unit volume is less than gasoline (or diesel), it takes more E-85 to do the same work. What you really want to buy is a certain amount of energy content, not a certain volume. If the various fuels are priced on a $ per 100,000 BTU basis, then the consumer can compare prices fairly. Comparing prices for a gallon of gasoline versus a gallon of E-85 really doesn't make much sense since the gallon of E-85 contains significantly fewer BTUs.

Natural gas has been priced on a $/MMBTU (million BTU) basis for decades.

Rusty

[historyljc]

Not an all bad idea. They have been doing this in grocery stores for years so that you can compare. In the store they still try to mess you up by not using a single measure for the same product. One will be per oz, another per unit, etc.

[adj]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by RustyJC:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Ray,IN:
house bill 93-1114 permits diesel fuel and gasoline to be sold in "gallon equivalents" according to BTU content. This bill says this fair to fuel retailers and distributors. What's fair about that for consumers? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>


Actually, what's not fair is that, if you buy a "gallon" of E-85, you get far fewer BTUs than are contained in a gallon of gasoline, which results in substantially higher fuel consumption for the E-85. Since the E-85's energy content per unit volume is less than gasoline (or diesel), it takes more E-85 to do the same work. What you really want to buy is a certain amount of energy content, not a certain volume. If the various fuels are priced on a $ per 100,000 BTU basis, then the consumer can compare prices fairly. Comparing prices for a gallon of gasoline versus a gallon of E-85 really doesn't make much sense since the gallon of E-85 contains significantly fewer BTUs.

Natural gas has been priced on a $/MMBTU (million BTU) basis for decades.

Rusty </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Considerbly clearer than my attempt at clarifying the statute.

It would be nice if our government would make posting of energy equivalents mandatory. I suspect that many in the general populace would be surprised that it takes 1.40 gallons of E-85 to equal the energy in 1.0 gallon of gasoline.