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The political bandwgon of corn ethanol . . . Posted by Mark in Marine [Email] (#1837) [Profile/Gallery] (more from Mark in Marine) on Tue, 25 Jan 2011 18:41:36 In Reply to: How do you feel about starving people..., Mark from Toronto, Tue, 25 Jan 2011 11:24:34 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
This whole exercise of corn ethanol to supplant oil is fraught with a lot of bad logic and questionable "science." The best case scenarios that I know of 'might' support regaining about 125% of the energy spent in growing/harvesting/fermenting/disitilling the corn into ethanol. What is not accounted for is all the activity to do this. From a total energy use scenario we turn the crank about twice to get to where we could have been before planting the corn. Throw in the environmental polution and high water use for the process, and corn ethanol is probably a net ecological negative even before the concerns about world food prices. As a chemist I have been sadly watching this ship sailing into the ice berg. The funny thing is that my brother-in-law is an Iowa farmer who appreciates the higher corn prices for his crop, but has seen the whole thing as a big political football from the first. His comment: "When you see me out driving in my field using ethanol in the tractors you'll know that it's viable." Just my opinion, but this one of those tragic plays that will have to run its course before we finally give up and spend our government support money on something better.
Mark in Marine (MN)
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