So you wanna burn Ethanol?

1QuikV6

Registered User
Consider this before you go jumping for Ethanol:

Pulled from http://healthandenergy.com/ethanol.htm

David Pimental, a leading Cornell University agricultural expert, has calculated that powering the average U.S. automobile for one year on ethanol (blended with gasoline) derived from corn would require 11 acres of farmland, the same space needed to grow a year's supply of food for seven people. Adding up the energy costs of corn production and its conversion into ethanol, 131,000 BTUs are needed to make one gallon of ethanol. One gallon of ethanol has an energy value of only 77,000 BTUS. Thus, 70 percent more energy is required to produce ethanol than the energy that actually is in it. Every time you make one gallon of ethanol, there is a net energy loss of 54,000 BTUs.

If all the automobiles in the United States were fueled with 100 percent ethanol, a total of about 97 percent of U.S. land area would be needed to grow the corn feedstock. Corn would cover nearly the total land area of the United States.
 
Not saying anything really one way or the other, all energy solutions have a price. I can see it now, farmers over planting fields to make money off corn and ending up turning Kansas into wasteland that won't grow anything. I can imagine that with the growth of the ethanol industry (it's gonna happen regardless) food prices will rise accordingly....
 
Almost every product needs to move to sell. That takes fuel. If it costs more for the fuel to move those products, then you can expect that the costs of the products themselves will go up also. Sad but true.:( How much pure profit did EXON clear last year?:rolleyes:
 
General rant

If that $136 is accurate, why was the white house proposing to give each and every American a $100 rebate to ease "the pain at the pump". Where is the other $36 going, oh yeah... Air Force One's eats the rest.

The rest of this rant may not be suitable for this forum but I am letting it fly.

If we were all serious about replacing our "drug dependency" on oil, we have got to be led from the top down, you know those guys in Washington that can't seem to do anything right lately. Offering consumers cars that need to be charged and then not providing charging stations is useless. The infrastructure required to use hydrogen driven fuel cells is also a hugely expensive undertaking. Hydrogen being the lightest element has a funny way of finding leaks... any leaks, we still are not sure how much leakage will affect the environment and the global affect, that is what makes it expensive to use commercially. No, I hate to say it but we are in deep trouble. The oil WILL run out, we need to find alternatives. Unfortunately congress and the white house and all the other pinheads out there are too busy fighting needless wars and bickering about gay marriage. I say let the gays get married, why should us married folk be the only ones unhappy?
All I know is we could have built one hell of a wall along the border, increased airport security and still had some $ left over to federally fund a huge research project that DOES NOT involve the oil companies instead of wasting lives and money to "fight them there"? (Don't let me get started on the war!) I thought those boys at the white house were smarter than that? What is funny is a lot of the federal money that is spent on research ALSO goes to some of the oil companies of their subsidiaries. So if Cheney would have decided not to go to war, his other companies would have been doing OK anyways. Does anyone really know what Haliburton is about and what they do?

To close, I will say this, all of us on this website do not really have to worry about it, we are OLD and will not be around too much longer. Gas prices will rise to $5 like the rest of the world. It is our kids and their kids that will truly have to clean up the mess we left. I must be a gen-W because I came before gen-X... I think our gen-Y&Z is going to be really pissed at us?:eek:
 
Whose going to grow my sweet corn :mad: I think even a government madated 20% blend of ethanol would help out tremendously the governor of my state (Mn) has passed laws mandating a 20% blend by 2008 (I think) There are plenty of farmers in the county I work for who are growing corn exclusively for the ethanol plants.
 
lilredstang said:
Almost every product needs to move to sell. That takes fuel. If it costs more for the fuel to move those products, then you can expect that the costs of the products themselves will go up also. Sad but true.:( How much pure profit did EXON clear last year?:rolleyes:

better yet, I'll paypal $5 to the first one that can tell me exactly how much Exxon spent in the last 20 years on cleanup of the Valdez spill.
 
TBIRD-SC said:
Whose going to grow my sweet corn :mad: I think even a government madated 20% blend of ethanol would help out tremendously the governor of my state (Mn) has passed laws mandating a 20% blend by 2008 (I think) There are plenty of farmers in the county I work for who are growing corn exclusively for the ethanol plants.


yep ethanol is booming here in illinois too.
 
you mean me

To close, I will say this, all of us on this website do not really have to worry about it, we are OLD and will not be around too much longer. Gas prices will rise to $5 like the rest of the world. It is our kids and their kids that will truly have to clean up the mess we left. I must be a gen-W because I came before gen-X... I think our gen-Y&Z is going to be really pissed at us?

Well lets see... Im 20 so lets figure that I'll be purchasing fuel (whatever it may be) for the next 60 years. Im concerned and Im not one of the oblivious kids that think gas will last forever and that VTEC is the answer to everything.

I have faith that at the rate we're going, bar a HUGE innovation, we will be using mass transit for everything. Here in DC we have hybrid electric busses and a metro rail system that transports 700,000 people a day operating on electricity. Not to mention that in the next 20 years the metrorail will be turned into a magnetic type instead of traditional triple track.

That or everyone will drive an Insight hahahaha
 
Like as been said before every energy source has a price.

Do you think electricity grows on trees? The percent produced by wind hydro and solor is minimal....Burn gas..Burn oil..Burn coal...Yup thats where you get yer electricity from!

Hybrids help...But you still need a source of fuel.

Methane..We dont nearly exploit that resource enough..

How about a mini nuclear recator inyour car?...Heck that keep you running for years to come...Did ya really think cars could miraculously convert water to a usabel fuel?

Bio diesel?.....Well for a small percentage.

Fortunatey for us we have many options. I dont think anyone in thier right mind thinks any one fuel source will sustain us forever. We USE a heck of a lot of fuel..Heat..Autoes...Electricity...

BTW we export a hell of alot of corn... And Ethanol can be made using many a thing..

Anyway I'll worry about it whne they say no more gas:O)
 
Dude, this big bad oil company crap is getting old. They do less than 10% profit margin.

Tobacco was like 20%+, pharmaceutical was like 25%, and banks were 15%.

2 of those, most people can't live without, just like gas; why aint people b!tching about them? For that matter, why do we pay $3.00+ for a gallon of milk, obviously a renewable resource??? We can thank the gubmint for that.

There have been tons of govt investigations for years on price gauging, racketeering, etc and nothing is ever found; not to mention that countless politicians and journalists could make careers and huge names for theirselves from uncovering such things. I'd be very surprised if they found anything this time also.

Seems everyone wants the gubmint to come in a regulate, or tax the oil companies more, when the US government makes more money off a gallon of gas than the oil comanies do! Think about that for a minute. Why aren't they talking about relieving the price with tax cuts:rolleyes: I've seen no big name politicians make that suggestion???

I will say that they could use some more competition, but the extreme environmentalist have made it dang near impossible to build a modern refinery. They also prevent us from drilling dang near anywhere also. This is really backa$$wards because the Chineese are about to drill off OUR coast in conjunction with Cuba:eek: ; in waters that OUR gubmint won't allow us to drill:rolleyes: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/27/ldt.01.html
They are gonna get OUR oil:mad:

The gubmint takes us for idiots, a prime example was that proposal to send everyone $100 for gas relief... What in the blue hell is that gonna solve???

I think we can easily point to the gubmint, gubmint can and will screw up a dream that would have resulted in nocturnal emissions:p Politicians and big gumbint are responsible for many of our problems especially this one, not our businesses that are out to make money. Making money is not an evil thing I'm sure we have some folks on this board pulling in some pretty big money, should they feel guilty about it? I hope to make some pretty big money at some point, and I'll be damn proud of it when I do!
 
sizemoremk said:
I will say that they could use some more competition, but the extreme environmentalist have made it dang near impossible to build a modern refinery. They also prevent us from drilling dang near anywhere also.
Who do you think is sponsoring these "extreme environmentalists"?:confused:
 
the-big-e said:
Who do you think is sponsoring these "extreme environmentalists"?:confused:

The lobbyists who "influence" congressfolk and other politicians to keep us from drilling and buildign new refineries...
 
of steroids & antibiotics

DamonSlowpokeBaumann said:
Thats because the pharawhatchamacallits convince farmers to pump em full fo steroids!!!
The fact is that the cattle gain musle mass much faster when given steroids & antibiotics. The farmer can get his cattle to market quicker, at a reduced feed cost. Even considering the cost of the steroids/antibiotics, the farmer can turn a higher profit, in a shorter amount of time. Sounds like a sound business practice to me.

If you don't want to eat beef raised that way, I encourage you to buy Free Range beef.......................at twice the price.

68COUGAR
 
If im not mistaken the government already pays farmers to plow under their crops to keep the market price up. 20% blend of ethanol sounds like a good idea to me why not ecourage the use of resources we have.
 
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