Ethanol More Trouble Than It's Worth?

call -151 writes "Yahoo reports this story by researchers from Cornell and Berkeley who show what a number of people had suspected- it takes significantly more energy (at least 29%) more energy to produce ethanol than it yields. Since ethanol production plants don't use ethanol themselves for their own energy needs (with presumably negible delivery costs) this has been widely suspected but not so bluntly stated: "Ethanol production in the United States does not benefit the nation's energy security, its agriculture, the economy, or the environment." Ethanol producers dispute the study, predictably, which deducts the multi-billion US dollar subsidy. It's not clear how this compares with this earlier Union of Concerned Scientists article that claims that the yield from corn kernels is net 50% positive- and the UCS is usually quite unbiased on these things."

The solution is so easy

[Anonymous Coward]

Just use ethanol to fuel the production of the ethanol! I guess those researchers didn't go to community college.

Ethanol not worth it!

[DanielMarkham]

Surely you jest, man. Ethanol is most certainly a worthwhile endeavor. How else would ulgy people...

Oh. You mean Ethanol energy production. Yes. Of course.

Plastic Rabbit, New Gizmo? [whattofix.com]

Re:Duh

[Anonymous Coward]

Umm... beer?

To be blunt, when I drink beer on a Friday evening, the amount of energy that comes out is waay more than goes in. As for fusion reactors and hydrogen/sodium tomfoolery? They have no place in my nights out thanks very much!

Re:Ethanol not worth it!

[suitepotato]

Why are so many obviously comedic posts getting modded insightful instead of funny lately?

Re:Ethanol not worth it!

[AKAImBatman]

Why are so many obviously comedic posts getting modded insightful instead of funny lately?

Because the mods wish to reward the poster with a real mod-point that counts toward their score instead of the pseudo mod-point "funny". The problem with this scheme is that it tends to confuse the /. readers who are just skimming the posts, and it tends to send mod points to people who don't really need them anyway. If I make a joke (which, granted, I'm not the best at doing) I'm always happiest if the mods use the Funny mod instead of the Insightful mod.

I really do applaud the intentions of the mods, but this is one of those cases where you shouldn't try to game the system. :-)

Re:Oil Subsidy...

[Anonymous Coward]

Most people usually don't figure the cost of keeping an extra aircraft carrier-centered battle group around to guard Mideast shipping lanes and a couple of ill-planned invasions here and there into "oil subsidies", but if they did, I'd bet you find that the cash devoted to ethanol isn't that much at all.


Yeah, but think about how much more it is going to cost to get the aircraft carrier-centered battle group to Iowa.

NZFFTFF

Re:Looking at the wrong numbers.

[ryanvm]

The real question is, how much energy production do you get back out of pork?

Ha fool! You've obviously never seen the swine-powered running wheel that keeps my house off the grid.

Re:Sugarcane

[jabber01]

First they said eggs were bad for you, now they say they're good for you.

Then they said alcohol was bad for you, now they say a little is actually healthy.

Then they said that you shouldn't put sugar in your gas tank. And now...

Better Use of Ethanol

[Fujisawa Sensei]

I can think of much a better use of Ethanol than powering cars.

It even saves me gas, cuz I'm not driving, and sometimes I'm not driving the next morning either.

Re:Brazil does just fine on ethanol

[ArsonSmith]

That could be helpful. "No officer. It's the car that smells like beer."

Re:ADM is also why your Coke sucks in the USA

[akhomerun]

pepsi won the pepsi challenge because it's the PEPSI challenge, not the Coke challenge.

Re:The real environmental impact of ethanol

[djeaux]

> What happens when a tanker full of ethanol spills? I kind of picture an ad hoc hazmat team made up of guys from Skid Row. The fire department drives a Greyhound bus up to a street corner on "that" side of town, loads up, drives out to the accident site & hands everyone drinking straws.

Re:ADM is also why your Coke sucks in the USA

[badfish99]

Have a Coke anywhere else in the world and it will taste good.

No. I tried some once. I didn't like the taste, and I'm sticking to ethanol next time.

Re:Duh

[Politburo]

Because that would be communism, duh! How the hell are companies like Monsanto and ADM supposed to make billions of dollars if the gov't owns the farms? Sheesh.

Re:ADM is also why your Coke sucks in the USA

[RevAaron]

I should mention that it really pisses me off to see the "Original Formula" label on cans of Coke Classic. It sure doesn't taste like the original to me.

No joke. That always bugged me too. Between the buzz of the cocaine and the taste of the sugar... It's an utter lie.