corn for ethanol good or bad idea?

[VA_Joe]

Frank, I don't know enough about cost benefits; i.e., how does the cost to produce the corn and turn it into ethanol compare to the value of the ethanol. Being one who keeps very detailed records, I know that my gas mileage has come down a bit on the modern gasoline with ethanol. Just a couple of hours ago, I was reading a news story about how the price of corn went up 80% supposedly in the last year, and now the price of corn and soy beans have taken another big jump because of the flooding in the midwest.

I'd have to admit to not knowing enough to have a really valid opinion, but as for what I think, I think you're right.

Bird makes another good point - a gallon of ethanol has less energy content than a gallon of gas. I've noticed about a 10 percent MPG loss since they started mixing it with gasoline

 

[irvingj]

Here's a link to an interesting discussion on the topic-- lengthy, but seems to cover the subject pretty well...

Foreign Affairs - How Biofuels Could Starve the Poor - C. Ford Runge and Benjamin Senauer

 

[jinman]

just wondering how the most of you folks feel about using corn to produce ethanol?
My personal opinon is it is not a good thing.

A 50-lb bag of deer corn was $8.79 at TSC last week. Others are even more expensive. The price has not doubled, but it's very close.

I think the use of corn for ethanol is a big mistake because it delays our increased production of domestic fossil fuels. I'm a big fan of exploring, drilling, and refining. Failure to develop all our resources is a mistake in my opinion.

Additionally, isn't fertilizer production a huge user of natural gas and fossil fuel? What would corn production be without tons of fertilizer? Isn't fertilizer production a contributor to greenhouse gases? What about stream and water table pollution? I think those beatuiful green fields of corn may cause more of a problem than we are being led to believe.

 

[Reg]

The original "bad idea" was probably founding such a large segment of the economy on the development and operation of transportation.

 

[Egon]

We need those fields of corn. Where else would all the Baseball Players come from??

 

[MikePA]

The original "bad idea" was probably founding such a large segment of the economy on the development and operation of transportation.

What were the alternatives, stay in the 1800s model and continue to use horse drawn transportation?

 

[kenmac]

just wondering how the most of you folks feel about using corn to produce ethanol?
My personal opinon is it is not a good thing.

Drives the cost of everything else up, expensive to make , high cost per gal. not a very good MPG fuel ===Very Bad idea.

 

[Reg]

What were the alternatives, stay in the 1800s model and continue to use horse drawn transportation?

Paving over the planet by laying down tar for wheels to go.....
Hmmmm, lets see, why DO all those cars "need" to go wherever it is they're going ?

Amish - oh, nevermind.

 

[MikePA]

Paving over the planet by laying down tar for wheels to go.....
Hmmmm, lets see, why DO all those cars "need" to go wherever it is they're going ?

Amish - oh, nevermind.

In other words, stay in the 1800s.

 

[Reg]

In other words, stay in the 1800s.

Don't confuse mechanization with progress.

There were alternatives to "See the U S A in your Chevrolet" marketing of travel for the sake of travel.

HUGE areas of land are now paved over for "passenger cars only" and cannot be used for the transportation of goods (e.g. food) or services.