Ethanol More Trouble Than It's Worth? 986
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 (Score:1, Funny)
Ethanol not worth it! (Score:5, Funny)
Oh. You mean Ethanol energy production. Yes. Of course.
Plastic Rabbit, New Gizmo? [whattofix.com]
Re:Duh (Score:3, Funny)
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! (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Ethanol not worth it! (Score:5, Funny)
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
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... (Score:2, Funny)
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. (Score:4, Funny)
Ha fool! You've obviously never seen the swine-powered running wheel that keeps my house off the grid.
Re:Sugarcane (Score:3, Funny)
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 (Score:4, Funny)
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 (Score:3, Funny)
Re:ADM is also why your Coke sucks in the USA (Score:2, Funny)
Re:The real environmental impact of ethanol (Score:3, Funny)
Re:ADM is also why your Coke sucks in the USA (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Duh (Score:3, Funny)
Re:ADM is also why your Coke sucks in the USA (Score:3, Funny)
No joke. That always bugged me too. Between the buzz of the cocaine and the taste of the sugar... It's an utter lie.