What is stopping America from using Ethanol and other biofuels as a mainstream energy source?

Question

Also electrical motors, motors using hydrogen, fuel cells and air pressure. Why are we so reliant on gasoline?

Answer 1

Ethanol has a big problem.  First, if you took every ear of corn and turned it into ethanol, it would replace less than 20% of our gasoline needs.  Secondly, it takes almost as much energy to grow the crops and produce the ethanol, as you get from it.  Brazil does it better, because they derive it from sugar cane.  Unfortunatly, the US does not have the climate to grow sugar cane effectively.

Hydrogen is a pipe dream.  In order to obtain large amounts of hydrogen, you need to get it from petroleum, like natural gas.  Or else you need fantastic amounts of electricity to separate it out from water.  Plus you have to build an entirely new infrastructure.   You could have filling stations that make their own hydrogen via separating it from water, but again, you'd really need to beef up the electrical generation.  Maybe if we built a bunch of nuclear power plants.

I think electric cars are feasible.  GM has already done so, before they ended the program.  Would everyone buy one?  No, but so what.  Even if it was $10k extra to make one, you'd still have the greenies and other early adopters wanting to buy them.  With time, the manufacturers will gain expertise and learn how to make them better and cheaper, so everyone can buy them.  Charge them at night when power plants are underutilized.

Plug-in hybrids I believe are very near.  Take a Prius, add more batteries, tweak the computers, and add a way to plug it in, and bam!  You've got a car that can run 20 - 40 miles on batteries before using any gas.  Then it's just a regular hybrid after that.  Individuals have already converted their own Priuses and shown it can be done.  Now Toyota and other automakers need to get with it.

I saw a show talking about air pressure fueled cars.  I don't believe it yet.  

Biodiesel or even vegetable oil look very interesting in vehicles with diesel engines.

I think for the near future, like next 5 - 10 years, plug-in hybrids and electric cars will be our best bet, along with biodiesel for diesel vehicles.

Answer 2

It is a large initial investment to set up a transportation network for ethanol.

It will have a large impact on the farming industry by raising the price of feed corn.

The greatest benefit is independence from foreign oil, but in a global economy, many do not see that as a benefit.

As for the other items, compared to the 150 years of research and improvements in gasoline, they are just not better or cheaper than gas is today, so companies are reluctant to release these products.

essentially, marketers are no longer concerned with selling a quality product or filling a niche.  they are only concerned with offering the cheapest, as that is what the average consumer uses to make purchasing decisions.

Answer 3

Lack of production.

Answer 4

It's the cheapest way to go, if you don't count dealing with global warming or unstable foreign countries.

And there's a large group of people making a living from it that don't want to change.

But it will happen.  The question is whether it will happen fast enough.

Answer 5

"Big oil" runs this country ... literally...

Sad that even Brazil is energy independent now...

America just aint what she used to be...