Originally Posted by
Cobrajet
Sheesh...we (and the world) can eat our corn, or we can burn it in our cars. We can't do both. More energy is used making and transporting ethanol than it saves when used as a motor fuel, not to mention the amount of potable water it requires. The ethanol mandate is a joke, and is really nothing more than a gift to the corn lobby to keep prices up. Wanna know how European cars get such good mileage? They are running 100% gasoline, not gasoline cut with vodka and a bunch of other crap.
It was a neat idea, but it's time to abandon it.
Agreed. I'm no expert, but I attended a university lecture/conference on this subject and all agreed that energy return on investment made ethanol a no go. Some further noted that not only is it bad economics, but it is also bad ethics, considering that there are people going hungry. If some of the yet unproven technologies of making ethanol from waste were to come on line the equation would change, but currently, putting petro-chemical fertilizer on farmland with diesel tractors, then shipping the crops by truck to be fermented in large plants is wasteful, bad for the economy, bad for the environment, and of course bad for people.
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