Is ethanol really worth all the hype?

Question

Ok, I am doing a paper on ethanol for my Economics class. I am reading article after article and I have to say it does not seem like "the solution" we have been looking for. Is there something I am missing, educate me, please?

Answer 1

no...its being pushed by the corn lobbist's....

Answer 2

Why not compare the environmental impact of clearing a field (wildlife be damned!), plowing it, fertilizing it, spraying  herbacides and insecticides and processing the harvest --with drilling a hole in the ground and pumping out oil?

Answer 3

Right now it's a small win.  It saves a little energy, reduces dependence on foreign oil a little, reduces global warming a little.  And it also raises food prices a little bit.

The big payoff would be to make it from something other than corn.  Saw grass grows where other things won't, with little water and fertilizer.  It requires less processing to turn it into ethanol.  Ethanol from something like saw grass would be very useful in saving energy and reducing global warming.

Answer 4

Its a small win. It's a bb gun where a cannon is needed. You do have to consider the environmental impact on animal habitat, pesticides, fertilizers and energy consumed in harvest. The thing I see is a step in the rite direction in regards to exploring alternative fuel however I also see another way for big business to halter the use of fuel cell technology because it would be much harder to regulate if individuals could produce their own at lower cost. Bush is all ready looking into Brazilian cooperation in cane harvest. I just see people like Bush and the oil giants keeping a choke hold on the energy market by using a source that requires huge investment, and refining to produce.

Answer 5

No because the US would have to convert all of the farm land and approximately 90%+ of the total land area of the US into corn fields to produce enough ethanol to meets its needs. Not to mention E85 decreases fuel-economy by 15-30%.

Answer 6

I know this isn't a solid answer, but if I were doing a paper on this topic I would look at the amount of fuel needed to make ethanol.  I have heard that it takes as much fuel (from farmers, tractors, harvesting etc) to make ethanol as what is saved from using ethanol. It is worth looking into anyway.