Energy experts knock Bush plan for ethanol as gas substitute

[Kadie]

Energy experts knock Bush plan for ethanol as gas substitute
They say it would be costly and inefficient and might force choice: corn for food or fuel
David R. Baker, Chronicle Staff Writer

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Only one fuel -- ethanol -- can satisfy President Bush's plan to vastly expand America's use of gasoline substitutes, energy experts say.

And that might not be a good thing, they say.

In his State of the Union address Tuesday night, Bush said that within 10 years, he wants the United States to use five times as much alternative fuel as it does now. That step, coupled with tougher mileage standards on cars, would reduce gasoline usage by 20 percent, he said.

Ethanol is the only alternative fuel that can be produced in large enough quantities to meet his mandate, many experts say. And, as it is made in the United States, ethanol has serious drawbacks.

The vast majority of ethanol comes from corn. But diesel fuel powers the tractors that tend corn fields, natural gas runs the distilleries that produce ethanol, and more diesel is used to ship the finished product to market. The power you get out of corn ethanol, in other words, might just barely beat the power you put into it.

more...
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/01/25/MNGAUNOPVN1.DTL

[wuushew]

1. The only important measure is the amount of liquid fuel in vs. liquid fuel out

you need not burn ethanol to run machinery or generate heat for distillation of alcohol. Also if we are so short of corn why the hell is high fructose corn syrup in everything?


Much of the corn is used as animal feed as well which is also highly inefficient.

[madrchsod]

2. i really do`t understand what the hell this guy is talking about

"The vast majority of ethanol comes from corn. But diesel fuel powers the tractors that tend corn fields, natural gas runs the distilleries that produce ethanol, and more diesel is used to ship the finished product to market. The power you get out of corn ethanol, in other words, might just barely beat the power you put into it."

[druidity33]

3. there are many terms...

for this perspective. One is embodied energy. Short explanation is that in order to consider whether or not something is sustainable you have to weigh the cost of its production. If what you are creating is energy, then what's the point of creating it if it takes as much or more energy to produce it? This is what held back research on solar panels for so long... the return on the 'investment' in solar technology was dubious at best. But with more reliable technologies and better incentives, the payback period for most panel systems is less than 10 years.

Sustainable is the key word there. Other folk, like William McDonough, who believe in up-cycling instead of re-cycling and eco-effective rather than sustainable, would scrutinize and reconstruct solutions from a Permaculture-style perspective.

Cradle To Cradle by McDonough and Braungart is a fascinating read... and a physical sensation as it is a book not made out of paper.

well, hope i haven't confused you more...
:)

[youthere]

4. As an Iowan I can say I have mixed feelings on this...

On one hand, increased production of ethanol would be a great boon to my state..industrially and agriculturally, on the other (putting agricultural diesel consumption aside for a moment), we're talking about a major resource relying heavily on ONE major crop-corn. What happens when (like in 2005) we get a major drought? What happens when (like in 1993) we have a major flood? Invasive insect or fungus? In other words, aren't we putting all our "eggs" in one basket?
Investing heavily in ethanol is going to require higher yields and since crop farmers only make money through volume what incentive would farmers have to rotate allow fields to "rest" in order to regenerate the nutrients in the soil? I think we are looking at increased usage of pesticides, synthetic fertilizers and herbicides. How long before the ground is saturated?
I don't claim to know everything about agriculture-far from it.
Maybe some other DU'ers can shed some light on this.