What is the difference in energy used for oil production and energy used for ethanol production?

Question

you never hear about how much energy it takes for oil discovery, refining and distribution and the continuing damage to the environment. ethanol on the other hand is accused of being inefficient, increasing food costs. it is renewable and is not destroying the environment. ethanol production is becoming more and more efficient every day. many processes were not very efficient when they were first discovered and took time to refine and make more productive. lets not abandon something that provides a part of the large puzzel of energy independance from dictator countries that hate our guts and want to kill us. we must try and find other sources of energy or we will have no choice but to continue to send billions of dollars out of our country. what if our oil imports are cut off, what will we do? i know well, the food vs. fuel debate. but the facts are that there is plenty of grain and areas to produce it for food and fuel and corn production is not destroying the environment.

Answer 1

If oil is so bad why do U use it??? All your knowledge about oil CO. is Leftest propaganda. Why do some of the people that teaches that stuff still ride plains and cars?? Just how do u think U would be if the oil Co. stopped producing ,how long would it take to hurt U. Be honest ...

Answer 2

I beg to differ.  It is destroying the environment because the facilities use coal to heat the corn mash.  30% of corn is being diverted to fuel, this saving the US 3% in fuel.  So, if we diverted 100% of corn for fuel, the US would only produce 10% of our fuel needs, but we would all starve to death.

Corn is needed for food for animals as well as people.  Chicken, beef, pork would be scarce in this country.  Food riots would break out such as they are having in Latin American countries and Haiti today.

Ethanol is not green.  The streams near the plants are being polluted by the byproducts. Methanol and formaldehyde and the byproducts which cause cancer.  Google ethanol and pollution together and see what destruction is going on in Missouri and Kansas.

Answer 3

The reason you don't hear as much criticism on oil production (but you do when it comes to tapping new sources), is because it is already the dominate energy source.  Yes it does take energy to make petroleum products, but not as bad as ethanol,  (when it is made of corn) the amount of calories going in is less than comes out.  What is really the bad news of corn ethanol, it still requires a dominate petroleum energy economy to produce it.  What we need to focus on are alternatives to corn, like hemp or switch grass.  But the giant industrial Ag corn business is pushing hard to move us into a corn dominated energy market, to do this over 2/3rds of our arable crop land must be used to grow fuel.  We aren't even close to that and food prices have started to increase.  You are wrong about corn not destroying the environment, the area off the coast of Louisiana in the gulf of Mexico is a total "dead zone" the apoxic  (no oxygen) effect is due to all the nitrogen fertilizer (a petroleum product) it takes to grow corn, Not to forget about the 100's of millions of tonnes of bio-cides (a petroleum product) that are sprayed on it to keep "pests" away.

I hope you realize the two below me that answered are totally stupid.

Answer 4

1. All the costs accociate with the production, discovery, and refining of oil is by nature associated with the production of ethonol, because one is used to create the other.

2. Criticism that ethonol would raise food prices or contirubute to a food shortage is "stupid" to put it nicely. Farms in the US produce food so readily that they have to be paid not to farm crops in order to maintain a sustainable food price for farmers. Rasing demand for US crops can only help farmers and consumers.

3. Since oil is the most effective method of creating energy, it will continue to be used until costs become prohibitive. Ethonol does not really do anything to address that because you need some energy source to turn corn into ethonol.

4. Ethonol is a way to get more money to farmers, not a real solution to our energy needs.