Corn ethanol is 30 percent less efficient than gasoline and far less efficient than its sugar-based ethanol cousin. Translation: It takes more energy to make corn ethanol that other fuels. Looking at it another way, one hectare (2.471 acres) of sugarcane yields 7,500 liters of ethanol, while the same acreage of corn yields about half as much fuel.
But forget hectares and efficiency, the worst thing about corn-based ethanol is that it’s not even clean. A recent [as of 2009]University of Minnesota study found that corn ethanol is actually worse for the environment than regular gas.
So corn ethanol is not only inefficient and expensive, but it also makes the problem we’re trying to solve even worse. Genius! I can see why Washington threw $3 billion at it in 2007, an amount that represented 76 percent of all renewable-energy tax credits.
3 comments:
Just a random question. Do you think that their are frauds in fields like modern dentistry? Any hoaxes or conspiracies there?
Anonymous,
I'm sure there are probably frauds in most industries, or at least incompetent people working in them. I don't believe in conspiracy theories.
Michael Fumento in his book Science Under Siege (1993) has a chapter on ethanol, making the same points, and going into detail about the ethanol lobby. If you can't find that book, do some searching under "Bob Dole" and "Archer Daniels Midland."
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