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01/26/2008: "ETHANOL FACTS"
(TheShiningLight.info) Ethanol has been touted as a cure for some of the energy and pollution problems faced by humanity the world over. Is it really? Just what are the facts?
Ethanol is an alcohol obtained by processing sugars taken from crops. Fields must be plowed, seed sown, fields cultivated, weeded and protected from insects. Then comes the harvest, shipping, processing, manufacture and distribution to sellers. This all takes energy! On average it takes one and one half gallons of petroleum fuel to produce one gallon of ethanol!
Fact: If the energy taken to produce the ethanol is added into the calculation of the energy contained within the ethanol the end result is; The burning of ethanol as fuel is almost 1 1/2 times less efficient than the burning of the petroleum product in the first place. It takes 131,100 BTU's to produce 77,000 BTU's. Prof David Pimental Cornel U. Natural Resources Research, Vol 14, No 1 Mar 05, pages 65-76 . It takes 29% more energy to produce ethanol from corn than the total energy contained in the ethanol produced. This varies with the type of crop, but corn is at the better end of the scale.
Fact: The pollutants produced by burning petroleum to produce ethanol, plus the pollutants produced by the burning of ethanol, amount to producing twice the pollutants that would have been produced by just burning petroleum in the first place!
Fact: There are various problems involved in burning ethanol as fuel which often result in a measurable DECREASE in mileage per gallon of fuel. Sometimes as much as 40%. This decrease in efficiency alone, means an INCREASE in fuel consumption and pollution! See the ethanol and alcohol section near the end of this link. http://www.lubedev.com/smartgas/additive.htm.
Fact: With the incentive of cash and government subsidies, large acreages are being converted into producing feed stock to produce ethanol. As a result, prices for wheat and other grains are rapidly increasing due to shortages. As prices increase due to these shortages, basic foods will be beyond the reach of millions maybe billions. This will produce starvation and the resulting upheavals, death and destruction. For information on the current state of world grain stocks see. http://www.counterpunch.org/dawson12202007.html
Fact: While ethanol is presented as a boon for the environment, large areas of previously untilled land will be put into production. Grasslands will be tilled and forests cut down to ease food shortages or to take advantage of high prices and incentives. This will be a disaster for the environment. If research slows on a petroleum substitute due to a misguided reliance on ethanol, that will be yet another disaster.
Conclusion: The use of ethanol will not solve either pollution problems or energy shortages. In fact it will be an environmental disaster and a human disaster, bordering on genocide. These facts are obvious to any observer. Why are we being conditioned to overlook them? Is the push to ethanol really just another example of governmental stupidity, or are the farming and energy lobbies working for their own selfish ends?
This article found at http://www.theshininglight.info/id34.html