I'm not so sure.
Published on June 21, 2007 By Adventure-Dude In The Environment
Colorado now has 3 ethanol plants, the first in Boulder, the second in Sterling, and the most recent in Yuma county. Thanks to Governor Bill Ritter Colorado is planned for 40 new stations to pump E85 (85% ethanol and 15% unleaded) for 2007. Many support this idea of 'renewable' fuel source as a prized alternative but I'm not so easily convinced.

For those who think corn comes from a can this would sound like a great solution to our foreign oil dependence but let's briefly examine this 'solution:'

Corn crops are one of the top crops that deplete soil nutrients extracting large amounts of Nitrogen from the soil. If crop rotation isn't utilitized the land can be devastated in just a few years. From my understanding it is the second harshest crop on the soil (first being cotton).
Since the push for Ethanol corn has increased in price to over $4 a bushel that's up 73% (-Link). With this significant surge in price many farmers are opting to raise corn instead of other grains. A recipe for shortage of other grains and greater damage of soil depletion. WIth a shortage of other grains such as wheat simple laws of supply and demand will cause the price of wheat to go up.
There will be several areas in the grocery industry that will be directly affected by this.
-Your box of corn flakes will go up as it will be competing for each bushel of corn by this new competitor.
-Since corn is greatly used in feed for cattle we can anticipate meat and dairy prices to rise.

These are just a few of the heavily impacted areas for this 'solution.' I know that some have claimed the environmental benefits of ethanol being a cleaner burning fuel but it comes at a high cost of soil depletion. From an environmental perspective I cannot see any legitimate reasoning. From an economical perspecitve I'm not convinced it will be 'better.'

What do you think JoeUser? Is this a good alternative or is it just going to make things worse?

Comments (Page 1)
2 Pages1 2 
on Jun 21, 2007
I think we should start grinding up all the aborted fetuses and using them as a viable alternative fuel.
on Jun 21, 2007
Almost every snack product contains Corn Syrup or High Fructose Corn Syrup because it was a inexpensive sweetner. Food manufacturers will either increase their prices or they will have to find a less expensive sweetner.
on Jun 21, 2007
I think we should start grinding up all the aborted fetuses and using them as a viable alternative fuel.


would that cost an arm and a leg?
on Jun 21, 2007
I think we should use snow for fuel in the north. There's plenty of that.

Honestly, though, I think someone else posted something about this, and one of the major concerns was that Ethanol takes more energy to make than is in the final product. That just doesn't make sense to me. We need a new alternate fuel, one that doesn't take more energy to create it.
on Jun 21, 2007
I think someone else posted something about this


If they did I didn't see it (which wouldn't surprise me).
on Jun 21, 2007
It sounds great in theory but milk is already an ourageous $3.85 a gallon here because of corn prices. I have heard that it may end up being $5 a gallon. I think they need to keep working on other ways to increase fuel efficiency or other alternative fuels than ethanol.
on Jun 21, 2007
Brad wrote an article on this a couple of months back. Link

We should use hemp not corn. You don't even have to prepare the farmland just spread the seed wherever and it grows like a weed.
on Jun 22, 2007
It is in one respect.  NIMBY's and Greens are preventing any new oil refineries from being built.  But are strangely (?) silent on ethanol refineries.  In that there are over 30 in construction right now (versus 0 Petroleum ones).
on Jun 22, 2007
I think we need to use something that is already in abundance, something that replenishes itself on a daily basis, I think solar power and water are the best alternatives we have. Water evaporates and turns back into water again, solar power is infinate till the sun dies. I find it strange that these sources are ignored so much. I guess if someone can't make a 100% profit on these types of alternative (since no one can charge you for how much solar power you use or they can't change you extra for water, or can they) it's not worth making engines for them.
on Jun 22, 2007
In that there are over 30 in construction right now (versus 0 Petroleum ones).


And the ecological damage from these are going to FAR EXCEED. So while we reduce our dependence on foreign oil we will slowly cut our juguler.

on Jun 22, 2007
And the ecological damage from these are going to FAR EXCEED. So while we reduce our dependence on foreign oil we will slowly cut our juguler.


Isn't that what the greens are all about? Look what they did to Nuclear power, and it has the safest track record of any source so far.

It all goes back to Jim Wright and his immortal statement: It is not the evidence that counts, but the seriousness of the charges.
on Jun 23, 2007

Yea, I wrote about this recently:

http://draginol.joeuser.com/index.asp?AID=151250

Ethanol is not a green fuel by any means and is a boondoggle on top of that. We can't produce enough of it to remotely satisfy our needs.

If dumb people weren't involved in decision making, we would have an energy system something like this:

Nuclear power plants providing electricity. Plug-in Hybrids that go 20 miles on an electric charge before needing to use gas.

Both technologies exist, are relatively cheap in mass production, and would drastically reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

But we won't get them any time soon because the same people who cry about global warming are the same idiots who cry about Nuclear power. It's one of the reason the global warming crowd has so little credibility with a lot of people because we already know that the enviro-left's grasp on science is tenuous at best.

on Jun 23, 2007
We should use hemp not corn.


hemp is illegal in the united states becouse of one of its other use
on Jun 23, 2007
Nuclear power plants


can be built with no chance of a melt down ever.

and be operated with no nuclear waste
on Jun 23, 2007
My dad worked for Davis Besse Nuclear Power Plant when I was growing up and I'm perfectly normal except for when I glow in the dark. ha ha. Lame, I know. I can't help it. My lameness comes naturally. Maybe I can blame it on nuclear contamination and sue. I'm calling Erin Brockovich.
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