Ethanol is NOT the Answer! Not Even Close!*****************
The more we look at ethanol as a substitute for gasoline, the more hype we find and the more problems we find with: growing the corn from which the ethanol is produced, the rising price of NEARLY EVERYTHING we buy at the grocery store as a result of the escalation in the price of corn, not to mention the fact that ethanol cannot provide anywhere near the energy that gasoline can, plus the reduction in MPG of a vehicle running on ethanol, and the damage to your vehicle that can occur from the use of ethanol.
There’s an interesting article at: FACTCHECK.ORG. We recommend you read it in its entirety. You’ll find it at:
http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/audacious_ethanol_hopes.html
If every acre of corn were used for ethanol, it would replace only 12.3% of the gasoline used in this country.
The more we look at ethanol as a substitute for gasoline, the more hype we find and the more problems we find with: growing the corn from which the ethanol is produced, the rising price of NEARLY EVERYTHING we buy at the grocery store as a result of the escalation in the price of corn, not to mention the fact that ethanol cannot provide anywhere near the energy that gasoline can, plus the reduction in MPG of a vehicle running on ethanol, and the damage to your vehicle that can occur from the use of ethanol.
There’s an interesting article at: FACTCHECK.ORG. We recommend you read it in its entirety. You’ll find it at:
http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/audacious_ethanol_hopes.html
If every acre of corn were used for ethanol, it would replace only 12.3% of the gasoline used in this country.
Read this entire article at:
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-07-10-ethanol-study_x.htm
So, it seems what we have is a boondoggle, or perhaps “a fairy tale” as the folks at SMARTMONEY.COM say:
“It's easy to see the appeal: Like the flat tax or missile defense, biofuels suggest a simple solution to a complex problem. Like missile defense, they cater to our faith in technological progress. Instead of drilling rigs blighting coastlines, biofuels evoke vistas filled with amber waves of grain. Just like that, dirty, bloody Mideast crude turns out to have a clean homegrown substitute. It's a fairy tale of course, like so many others featuring magically prolific plants.”
Read the entire article at:
Read the entire article at:
Now, I’ve just scratched the surface of the ethanol discussion… if there is any discussion left! It would appear the US is charging headlong into another situation, with fuels, that will produce a low energy yield fuel and the production of which will drive up food prices and create environmental problems equal to those we already have with fossil fuels.
Look, we’ve been making grain alcohol from corn, here in my neck of the woods, since the nation was founded. That was long before the automobile. As a boy, my family (some of whom were locally renown for their expertise at producing that “Moonshine”, or “White Lightening”) assured me that, indeed, it would fuel an automobile engine. But, we never put it in the tanks of our vehicles. I don’t know anyone who did, either.
Back in my younger days when I used to MC hydroplane races, there was so much alcohol fuel used in those engines, a walk through the pit area smelled like a stroll through a whiskey distillery! But, a high performance racing boat engine is far different from the engine in your family sedan, SUV, or truck.
I paid $3.09.9 a gallon for Hi-Test, or “premium” gasoline for my truck a day or so ago. Yes, I could have purchased a lesser octane gasoline, somewhat cheaper. But, it is MY TRUCK, and I cannot justify putting an inferior fuel in a vehicle for which I paid a substantial amount of money.
So, I won’t be joining the lines at the ethanol pumps. And, given a choice, I will not use a blended fuel in my vehicle.
Just remember this: As things are now, the high prices are at the gasoline pump. If the use of ethanol becomes widespread, that high price will move from the gasoline pump to your food… and just about everything else you purchase. In fact... it has already begun. The trade-off, for me, is simply not worth it.
Longstreet
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I think if we made food manufacturers remove corn syrup from all their garbage food, we'd save enough to make ethanol, not to mention we as a nation would loose those extra pounds that keep our cars from reaching their maximum fuel efficiency.
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