Originally Posted by apleschu
Despite all the problems with Ethanol there are some facts that cannot be discussed off the table:
-) It burns cleaner (there is NO sulphur in ethanol to begin with)
-) The CO2 load of Ethanol is negative (it takes more carbon to make ethanol than you emit, effectively cleaning the atmosphere)
Yes, more expensive
Yes, less energy content (I wish they had a similar system as they have with diesel where the energy content of the fuel is also part of the equation)
Apleschu,
Don't get me wrong. Ethanol is a great product, it has it's benefits for sure.
I simply object to the fact that all we hear about is how "fuel from corn we grow here in the good ole USA" is going to solve our oil crisis. The whole story of what it will do to our food supply and ecology is not truthfully told by ETOH proponents or our elected officials. These are people sworn to the public trust and owe their constituents the truth.
For instance, it is a widely held belief that the byproducts of ethanol production can be used as cattle feed. Makes no logical sense as the sugar in the feed is gone after ETOH processing. What's left is mostly cellulose fiber. Cows have two stomachs because their digestive system is inefficient. They must "chew their cud" to get the starches and sugars removed from the grass plant for simple digestion in their secondary stomach. The post ethanol cellulose fiber has little or no food value. Cattlemen can only add 20% of the crap to the feed or it will KILL THE COW.
So what are we going to do with the rest of the cellulose? I'm sure someone will come up with uses but right now it is going to landfills which is not pleasing the evironmentalists for sure. They now don't know which side of the argument to be on. I find it amusing.
If every square foot of arible land was converted to corn, we still could not supply enough ethanol to power our vehicles. And we would starve. The number of Ethanol plants planned by the government cannot be supplied by our current level of corn production, even if we stopped feeding it to the cattle and chickens we eat. Very amusing.
Bottom line here is this, as with most things out of Washington, we don't get the whole story untill it's a government program that cannot be fixed or killed.The free market forces that would have made the economic unviability of ethanol apparent, were thwarted by government subsidies and "the best of intentions."
Meanwhile our taxes go up to support it and relatively cheap food becomes dear.
Enjoy
roadster with a stick