ETHANOL FUEL??? ARE WE REAllY THAT STUPID?

Question

HOW IS ETHANOL BETTER IF WE NEED TO BURN ABOUT 6 GALLONS OF FOSSIL FUEL TO GET 8 GALLONS OF ETHANOL??? IS THIS JUST ANOTHER LIE TO GET WEALTHY LANDOWNERS EVEN WEALTHIER BY SELLING THEIR CORN?

Answer 1

I am against ethanol too. Ethanol requires huge amounts of fertilization which contains nitrogen. When the nitrogen flows into a river, stream, lake, or ocean, it pollutes it and the oxygen level decreases. Then more algae start to form due to lower amounts of oxygen. Hybrid vehicles are better.

Answer 2

You don't have to burn any fossil fuel to make ethanol.

But why would you take your food out of your children's mouths to burn it in your car?

Answer 3

It won't last.  Soon people will realize that plowing over wilderness in order to produce fuel for vehicles is more environmentally destructive than using fossil fuels.

Answer 4

WOW!  appearently none of you know anything about ethanol or corn production.  An ethanol plant is not some huge gassification plant located miles and miles away from where corn is grown.  Ethanol plants are popping up all over the midwest and they are being built right next to grain elevators, railroads, and cornfields.  The corn used to produce ethanol is not the same corn used to produce our food it is field corn or feed corn.  And the US produces TONS of extra corn every year.  Much of that corn was going to waste in bins and other storage areas while farmers waited for a price high enough to make a profit.  Ethanol is a way to use that corn for something useful and it can still be used to feed cattle after the ethanol has been made.

Wealthy Landowners???  What are you a communist?  Most of the farmers that sell their corn to ethanol plants are not "weathy" and only obtained their land by inheritance.  Large farm operations are the ones that buy out family farms and can also afford to risk investment on higher priced crops like FOOD corn.  If given the choice farmers would much rather raise and sell FOOD corn because it is worth MORE than feed corn.  But not every area is suitable for growing good FOOD corn so they raise what grows best in their area.  Ethanol may take some fossil fuel ( 4 gallons not 6)  to produce 8 but it is still a positive process that results in DOUBLE the usable fuel being produced than what was available before and it is renewable which means our oil reserves last longer and the fuel burnt is cleaner.  Which is kinda the point.

Do some research before you make stupid statements/questions!

Answer 5

And how many more people will starve worldwide when we start using food crops for auto fuel???

Answer 6

What you are saying is 100% false.  Ethanol is now being made with ZERO fossil fuels used in the process.    The proof is in the link below.  Ethanol plants are beginning to utilize wind energy to make it cause it adds black ink to their bottom line and saves them a heap by not having to buy natural gas. By the way it takes ALOT of fossil fuels to ship crude oil on a huge oil tanker from Saudi Arabia to the Gulf of Mexico.  And it also takes ALOT of fossil fuels to refine crude oil into usable gasoline.   So my question is are YOU really that stupid?????

http://www.connectbiz.com/stories/moonsh...

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2006/12/...

Answer 7

very true... the government just wants to get back in our favor with it, since corn is grown by farmers and increasing demand for corn would mean more money to farmers - the "heart of america"!

Answer 8

Just more government intervention.

A politician gets votes for putting laws into legislation that require ethanol use. Even if the laws do no good.

Answer 9

Farmers like it.

Answer 10

your figures are very vague. Maybe you should highlight for all of us just exactly where and what these fossil fuels are used for. Depending whether your energy is being generated by a fossil fuel power plant or a renewable energy source can account for a huge portion of that.

Answer 11

I don't know anyone connected to the ethanol business who doesn't understand that the economics are around the break-even point, and will remain so until a process is developed that allows using the entire plant, rather than just the grain.  Likewise, like all other fuel options (including nuclear) , it is not yet a net energy producer.  When the development goals are met both of those issues will be satisfied.  In the meantime, it's only frontpage news for people far, far from agribusiness.

People have practiced voodoo economics to link ethanol to every problem, worry and concern in the agricultural field.  Much of this wisdom originates with people who wouldn't know a cow if they met one.  If you don't believe me, listen to this guy!  (link below)

Answer 12

wow. true.

Answer 13

Yes, we really are that stupid.  The touchy-feely crowd of pseudo-enviroweenies eat this c**p up!  Never mind that from an economic point of view it makes no sense whatsoever!  It FEELS green and good and that's all that matters!  You have to TRUCK ethanol to the stations since it cannot be pumped in the conventional pipelines, like gasoline can.  So we burn more diesel fuel transporting ethanol to the gas station than we save by using it!  Dumb?  It's incredible how dumb ethanol is!  However, it is good for the farmers who are growing corn.

Answer 14

yes we are!!! :D

im going to miss taco day... :(

Answer 15

Yes, basically you are correct!

Answer 16

It is sheer stupidity.

As correctly noted on this forum, it takes considerable fossil fuel to produce ethanol.  But the gallon of ethanol obtained contains significantly less energy content than the gallon of fossil fuel used to make the ethanol.

Look at the EPA mileage ratings for E85 cars.  They get 30% fewer miles per gallon than gasoline used in the same models of vehicle.  Thus, the energy cost to produce the ethanol far exceeds the useful energy obtained.

Unfortunately, this is political posturing and a farm lobby subsidy.  Nothing more and nothing less.

Financial newsletters tout the ethanol business as a money maker not because it makes energy conservation sense (they all admit it doesn't) but because the public is fooled and the political lobby will make sure the dollars flow into the ethanol business.  It is simply a case of "take advantage of the fools while you can" for investors.  They see it as a publicly backed hog trough at which to feed.

Answer 17

I personally don't believe that ethanol is a viable alternative fuel and that it will soon find a place in some museum along side the vinyl record and VHS video recorder

Answer 18

The actual figures are more like 7 gallons of fossil fuel to get 8 gallons of ethanol.

It's a difficult calculation and depends on a lot of complicated indirect costs and benefits.

Ethanol will make more sense when we start to make it from things like saw grass, that grow on poor land with little water.

And it's mostly just a short term bridge between fossil fuels and alternative energy; nuclear, solar, wind.

From below.  "Ethanol is now being made with ZERO fossil fuels used in the process. The proof is in the link below."

This is overly simplistic, considering only the energy to run the conversion plant.  It neglects the fossil fuels used to grow the corn, manufacture the fertilizer, transport the corn, etc.  "Life cycle" analyses yield results similar to what is stated above.

As I said, it's a difficult calculation.