How high do gas prices need to get before corn based ethanol becomes cheaper than the gasoline?

Question

How high do gas prices need to get before corn based ethanol becomes cheaper than the gasoline?

Answer 1

Other alternatives will always be cheaper than ethanol, because ethanol is based on politics, not economics.  If we planted the entire United States in corn, it would provide 25% of our oil consumption while we starved from high food prices. Ethanol is heavily subsidized.  The way to go is radical hybrids or full electrics. Hydrogen in 20 years.

Answer 2

when will people quit talking about corn based ethanol as if it is some magic bullet that will solve our energy needs. let me clue you in, it wont. there are a number of issues, including;

low yield for the amount of corn needed

the price of corn, as well as gasoline, is tied to the commodities market, and prices keep going up.

the amount of energy needed to produce fuel from corn.

sugar is a far better source for ethanol, as it has a higher yield, and uses less energy, and takes less time, to produce fuel quality ethanol. and with the sugar substitutes on the markets, higher sugar prices wont affect food prices in as negative a manner as higher corn prices will.

Answer 3

sadly, biofuels like that will never be the answer to our enegry problems.

corn is needed for food, and we cant afford to turn it into gasoline.

This is a major problem in china, one of the worlds largest producers of ethanol fuel. China's food prices are skyrocketing becuase its more porfitable for farmers to turn their corn into fuel. people are unable to get the food they need to survive. as a result china's government has placed a strict cap on the amount of biofuels it will be producing.

Answer 4

Never. Primarily because there is alot of oil used in the process, and corn based ethanol is just not very efficient use of corn biowaste.

Sugar Cane however, is another matter and that is used by countries like Brazil but we don't have a temperately grown food-source that has nearly that energy profile, since sugar is nearly - well - pure sugar.

Answer 5

In all reality, it is not the price of gas than needs to change to make ethanol more viable, but the processes and politics. I am a big supporter of ethanol, but corn ethanol is not the future. Corn is good for now, but not tomorrow. What will need to happen is the switch to cellulose ethanol. Then we can use almost anything organic. Also, politicians need to stop interfering with the fuel because that only hurts it (why do you think gas is so high?). I saw where some experts at UC-Berkley said that within less than a decade, cellulose ethanol could be made from a variety of sources (namely switchgrass, poplar and recycled materials) for less than a dollar, not accounting for inflation.

Sugar ethanol is good for now, but the future is cellulose ethanol.

Answer 6

The national average for a gallon of e85 in June was $3.29

Answer 7

That will never happen if anything Corn Liquor will cost more than food and gasoline combined

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Why cause it is one of the important additives in all the food we eat on planet earth

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And the price tag on the farmers corn crop is jumping in huge numbers cause supply and demand on this one is in short supply and when food comes into play

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Watch out break the bank price tag on a commodity that is on the market to be brought and sold

Answer 8

Food, schmood.  If we stopped feeding half the world we wouldn't worry so much about it.  Before ethanol we used to pay farmers to NOT farm to keep prices competitive.

Ethanol is still subsidized, so we haven't seen the peak prices on it yet.  Problem with it is that the cost of fertilizer and pesticide (some of which are petrochemicals) have gone WAY up in price the last couple years.  This spikes the price of corn along with the increased demand.

I hope ethanol research progresses.  People have been fighting it lately, but right now it's the only thing I can put in my car besides gas that works.

Answer 9

Ethanol will never be cheaper than gasoline, because ethanol is produced from a product that fills several needs in the marketplace. Corn is used for human feed, as well as animal feed in too many products to name.

Ethanol is also not as efficient as gasoline either. Where a vehicle may get 17-20 mpg on gasoline, the same vehicle may get 14-17 mpg on ethanol.

Ethanol will never be cheaper to use than gasoline. Even should the price be less at the pumps, the reduced fuel efficiency won't help consumers in the wallet.

Answer 10

I'm afraid it won't happen. It requires fuel to process the corn into ethanol. Gasahol is not the answer to our energy problems, IMHO.