Do you believe that ethenol is a good alternative to gasoline?
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Josh, feeding our friend Gigi’s chickens. Hard to believe we were at the hospital just a few hours after this was taken. When we got home, Josh’s temperature spiked up to 104 and we had to go to the ER. He was a champ, though, and luckily the temp was easily controlled with medication.
Question by Superman: Do you believe that ethenol is a good alternative to gasoline?
Even though the process includes burning our food?! So the food (especially corn) that we feed cows, chicken and pigs has gone up in price. These animals and the related products that we get from them have gone up alot in the last year.
Give your answer to this question below!
13 Responses to Do you believe that ethenol is a good alternative to gasoline?
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Not True, corn stalks and husks are used to produce ethanol, not the corn itself.
It is less efficient than gasoline, you can get much further with 1 gallon of gasoline than you would on 1 gallon of ethanol, so you`ll have to refill your tank more frequently. The reason why food prices have gone up is because the price of gas has gone up. It cost more to transport and deliver the food.
It also takes 30 gallons of water and 6 gallons of gasoline to produce 1 gallon of ethanol
TruthSeeker818
November 3, 2013 at 1:15 am
Also, farmers are switching from growing corn for people to growing corn for ethanol production. That creates a worldwide shortage of food. When I first heard that they were building huge facilities to convert corn to ethanol, I just about fell out of my chair because I was laughing so hard because I knew what would happen. And sure enough in about 8 months, the Mexicans in Mexico were protesting because the price of tortillas doubled because the corn that they were made from had gone up in price.
Mr.357
November 3, 2013 at 1:20 am
It does preserve our Natural resources but i still think it’s bad for the environment.
Chris Rand
November 3, 2013 at 1:48 am
The E85 standard forced on America was one of the stupidest things the green movement ever did.
It turns to gel in cold climates like Minnesota, it burns up small engines and fouls boat engines that was never meant to use the stuff.
Not to mention the large increase in commodity grain prices as an unforeseen result of idiots making fuel out of a food staple. Unforeseen mainly because these eco pricks never seem to think ahead and are just as politically influenced (and corrupt) as any other government subsidy receiving entity.
But Ethanol can be made form many things other than corn. Any framented alcohol will yield Methanol and Ethanol.
Personally I think the movement should have been toward bio-diesel. We can make it from any oils, especially oils extracted from algae which is not a food staple. The only down side is that diesel engines haven’t been a big market in America like in Europe when it comes to personal vehicles and the government has been lazy bastards in choosing a direction to move in that makes sense to become energy independant.
Nightwind
November 3, 2013 at 2:33 am
no
Sabin Tamang
November 3, 2013 at 3:06 am
i don’t believe
Mellida Adam
November 3, 2013 at 3:57 am
No, no I do not. I think it’s a nice cut into mid-east gasoline consumption and a way to put some more US farmers to work but I think we’re at the max already with 10% Ethanol. 15% is iffy. 85% is crazy!
It’s not cost effective and there’s too many negatives.
Ethanol makes me wish I could get a tank of good 100% 1990’s gasoline and see what kind of Miles Per Gallon my car REALLY gets!
Two Lane. 1969!
November 3, 2013 at 4:35 am
I don’t think it’s a good alternative. It’s less efficient than regular gasoline, growing the corn required ends up costing more fuel/water due to fertilizer/pesticide/transportation of corn. On top of that, the corn being grown for fuel means less corn to feed people with, and while it’s not a problem in the US and most other first world nations, in other places people either won’t have enough to eat, or they have to pay more for food.
The corn growing industry would have you believe otherwise, but it’s good money for them, hence why they promote it.
komodo_gold
November 3, 2013 at 4:42 am
Internal combustion is not a good option in general because of it’s inefficiency.
But if internal combustion were seen as the best option for a certain scenario, bio fuel like ethanol would be a good choice, but not from food crops grown on farm land, from special fuel crops, probably genetically engineered, grown in useless land like desert or ocean.
Don't Panic
November 3, 2013 at 5:20 am
Ethanol was/is a way to buy the votes of midwest farmers. There are many better crops we could grow in the US for ethanol, but someone needed the votes from the farm states where corn grows best. Corn uses lots of water to grow so it has to be irrigated. Every drop of water in irrigation holds an extremely tiny amount of salt. Irrigation and the resulting salt buildup is what turned the fertile crescent in the middle east from the home of agriculture into a desert that persists thousands of years later. They didn’t have huge pumps and sprinklers like we do now, so think of how much faster we will ruin out lands compared to them.
Not all of the corn kernel is used to make ethanol- the non starchy part is fed to cows and pigs and is much better for them than the whole kernel.
thor
November 3, 2013 at 6:11 am
Not really..there are other means to produce bio-fuels without using corn or other crops for human or animal consumption. It’s a good deal for farmers to expand their markets but in the long run, ethanol from corn cannot be sustainable as a fuel source and it leads to higher food prices. Increased use of pellet stoves that use corn as a fuel can also increase crop food prices especially in northern states. 10 percent ethanol is already mandated in all gasoline sold in the US.
A variety of bio-fuels can be produced from other sources like garbage, waste products, ag wastes, algae, bacteria, CO2, etc.. And research into salt-water crops could also provide sources for bio-fuels without impacting crops like corn. Bio-butanol is thought by some to be a better source of fuel than ethanol…it’s compatible with current engine designs and infrastructures. We currently bury some 9 billion tons of garbage and wastes in the ground…that could be converted into oil and fuels.
Bio-butanol…
“E. Coli Engineered to Produce Record-Setting Amounts of Alternative Fuel
ScienceDaily (Mar. 17, 2011) — Researchers at UCLA’s Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science have developed a way to produce normal butanol — often proposed as a “greener” fuel alternative to diesel and gasoline — from bacteria at rates significantly higher than those achieved using current production methods.”
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110317102603.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090819110012.htm
Garbage into oil…
“Is Garbage The Solution To Tackling Climate Change?
ScienceDaily (Oct. 3, 2009) — Converting the rubbish that fills the world’s landfills into biofuel may be the answer to both the growing energy crisis and to tackling carbon emissions, claim scientists in Singapore and Switzerland. New research published in Global Change Biology: Bioenergy, reveals how replacing gasoline with biofuel from processed waste could cut global carbon emissions by 80%.”
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090929100654.htm
http://www.popsci.com/popsci/flat/bown/2007/innovator_2.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWf9nYbm3ac&feature=related
Other bio-fuels from algae, etc…
http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2011/02/massachusetts_biotechnology_co.html
http://www.jouleunlimited.com/
http://desertsweetbiofuels.com/
Anything into oil…the US military is looking into alternative bio-fuels to meet it;s needs…
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=72275
Saltwater crops…
“Saltwater-loving plants could open up half a million square miles of previously unusable territory for energy crops, helping settle the heated food-versus-fuel debate, which nearly derailed biofuel progress last year.
By increasing the world’s irrigated acreage by 50 percent, saltwater crops could provide a no-guilt source of biomass for alt fuel makers and tone down the rhetoric of U.N. officials worried about food prices, one of whom called the conversion of arable land to biofuel crops “a crime against humanity.”
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/12/saltwatercrops/
paul h
November 3, 2013 at 7:08 am
1. Ethenol (e-85) contains 20% less energy than gas. So the end result is that you burn 20% more fuel at $ 4/gallon to go the same distance (very good for the gas companies)
2. The ethenol eats up the plastic and gasket materials in the engine/fuel system, so unless you have a new car that can run on this junk, you are significantly reducing the life expectancy of your vehicle, causing you o spend money on a new vehicle (good for the economy and car manufacturers).
3. I’m not sure how this could be good for the environment as 20% more mass is converted into tailpipe emissions.
Mike
November 3, 2013 at 7:20 am
Ethanol is a joke on the American taxpayer.It supports the big mid western farmers an little else.
Cris Ray
November 3, 2013 at 7:50 am