The Tech + Photo Blog

New technology is becoming more adept at solving other technology-related problems, but we should learn that it will never be able to solve all of our human-related problems. In fact, relying solely on technology, often makes things worse. A great example of technology gone completely berserk and useless is Ethanol fuel. So today, I’d take a quick look at this superhero fuel and the country that is backing it…

Yes, here comes team America trying to solve the “alternative fuel” puzzle by pushing corn-based ethanol as a cleaner burning, homegrown alternative. Ethanol is a natural food substance which provides a renewable energy source and helps decrease our dependency on foreign oil while stimulating domestic economic growth at the same time.

WHAT?

Well now, let not my opinionated banter sway you. Read up on some of the wondrous facts made available by our government on behalf of ethanol fuel. The following are the top 3 reasons why we should use corn-based ethanol to power our vehicles:^[1]

Boosting Agriculture

Because it is made primarily from corn and other agricultural products, ethanol increases demand for these crops, increases the prices farmers receive for these crops, and brings economic development opportunity to the rural areas where the ethanol is made.

Let me give you another little tidbit of information here. American farmers already can’t produce enough corn to meet demand in the domestic market. Yes people, we use over half of our corn production to feed livestock and other forms of meat. Yes, it’s a completely inefficient use of energy in and of itself. That’s a whole different rant, and it’s a tangent I don’t want to go into here so keep reading…

Yup. American’s corn farmer’s can’t produce enough corn to feed the appetite of their fellow countrymen, countrywomen, and bovines yet we are burning it to make gas.I’ll give them one thing here. Ethanol does increase demand for corn, which in turn increases the price of corn. Nice. So I’m paying more for corn because you want to create some illusion that your mammoth V-8 SUV is environmentally friendly? OK, just a few little problems with that…

First, the inefficient distillation process used to create ethanol produces waste from what used to be a great deal of usable food and takes more energy to create than the energy it will provide to an ethanol-powered vehicle.^[2]

Second, ethanol isn’t always cleaner burning than gasoline.^[4]

Economic Stimulation

Ethanol production will generate an additional $19.6 million in household income annually.

Wonderful. Give America a minor shot of adrenaline right where it counts, in the thyroid. Or is it the buttox? At any rate, that doesn’t really matter. Really, do you know how irrelevant $19.6 million is to the American economy as a whole? Dwight Freeney, one of the top paid NFL players, was given a salary of over $30 million last year. Sure, he’s overpaid. But that’s not the point. The point is, a paltry 20 mil is nothing to a country whose national debt increases by 1.69 billion per day.^[3]

Folks, let me also remind you that this is one of the purported TOP 3 REASONS why we should buy into ethanol.

Cleaner Air

Ethanol blends are likely to reduce carbon monoxide emissions in vehicles by between 10% - 30%, depending upon the combustion technology.

First, that HUGE percentage range given is really disconcerting on its own. Second, carbon monoxide emissions have already been reduced over 70% simply by creating improved engine and catalytic-based control technologies.^[4] Many gas burning cars, such as the Hyundai Elantra and Volkswagon Jetta (PZEV versions) are certified as partial-zero-emissions vehicles. Gas can generally burn as clean as ethanol, so please remind me why we are wasting a potential food source if there are currently gas burning cars that are already cleaner than ethanol burning cars?^[5]

Do I really need to close this out with some comment on how terrible of an idea Ethanol is? On how appalling it is that we are investing billions of dollars on a fuel that, even if every last kernel of domestic corn available was used, would put a roughly 10% dent in our gasoline needs?^[7] There is no hope of replacing any remarkable portion of our energy needs with Ethanol.

Let’s start discussing other avenues. Perhaps ones filled with bicycles and pedestrians instead of cars powered by Orville Redenbacher.

-PL

Sources:

[1] According to the American Coalition for Ethanol - http://www.ethanol.org/index.php?id=34&parentid=8
[2]Roger Segelken, Cornell University - http://www.news.cornell.edu/Chronicle/01/8.23.01/Pimentel-ethanol.html
[3]According to the national debt clock - http://brillig.com/debt_clock/
[4] Statistic from Clean Car Campaign - http://www.cleancarcampaign.org/emissions.shtml
[5]CBC News - http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2007/03/30/ethanol-emissions.html
[7]University of Minnesota - http://www1.umn.edu/umnnews/Feature_Stories/Ethanol_fuel_presents_a_cornundrum.html

Popularity: 50% [?]