I am in favor of reducing our oil dependency. But ethonal does not seem to be the right alternative. I would favor research to find a more efficient way to produce ethonal, but cut back on it until we find something.
Originally posted 2009-03-28 06:33:04.
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we should be able to find a balance
YES! It takes more than a gallon of petroleum fuel to produce a gallon of ethanol and it is a less efficient fuel than gasoline. Ethanol has also been reported to be more of a harm to the atmosphere than gasoline as well. The whole corn-based ethanol push is a political beast that benefits the corn farmers. They get subsidies for growing the corn and make more money selling the corn for ethanol production. As less corn is available for food use, the cost of all other food products, including meat and dairy since the cows eat corn, rises. If we still want to push the ethanol fuel, there are far more efficient sources for it such as switchgrass, which provides far more ethanol per ton than corn, requires less water and fertilizer than corn, can be grown in more regions of the US than corn, and can be harvested as much as 2 or 3 times in a season as opposed to 1 time for corn. So why are we not using switchgrass? Simple, there isn’t a big switchgrass lobby in D.C.
New info: One last detail in response to the below comment. New federal requirements for adding ethanol to gasoline have actually contributed to the rise in gas prices. Because ethanol is so expensive to produce, requiring gas companies to add it to their fuel raises their costs as well. Also, since it requires more petroleum based fuel to produce ethanol than you get, you have a negative exchange there and this also causes gas to go up. It’s a lose-lose proposition.
Heck, even the far left-leaning UN recently released a report saying that this push in America for ethanol based fuel is causing a global food shortage and rising costs worldwide for staples such as wheat, corn, and rice.
No, we shouldn’t stop the push for ethanol as a gas alternative. It is just another alternative to the rising gas cost.
I think that Americans are not thinking about any of this realistically. We all knew gas was rising.. yet Hummers and SUVs still run the roads… and we still live far from work (suburbs)… and we still drive and drive for recreation.
What needs to happen here is not a desperate search for alternatives, but rather a lifestyle change. It’s just not sustainable. Walkable urbanism and walkable suburbanism are great ways of changing this lifestyle… imagine being able to ride your bike down the road and pick up a few groceries instead of loading up tons and tons of groceries (that partially go to waste in the end) into your huge car and driving 30 miles back home. It’s just not going to work.
Reorganizing infrastructure and allowing for commercial zoning for smaller stores next to living areas and suburbs would greatly reduce some of this. Also parks and other free recreation would be nice too.
I think about when I lived in a rural area. We sat on porches and drank while someone played guitar.. maybe had a barbecue.
In the city you just drive to your nearest restaurant.. and hardly engage in a big crowd anymore.. ah I miss my country days.