Comments on: The Ethanol Conundrum http://thegreenertruth.com/2010/01/the-ethanol-conundrum/ -your guide to a greener life Wed, 14 Sep 2011 15:20:12 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Aaron Midgett http://thegreenertruth.com/2010/01/the-ethanol-conundrum/comment-page-1/#comment-3 Aaron Midgett Fri, 29 Jan 2010 02:56:10 +0000 http://thegreenertruth.com/?p=15#comment-3 Thank you for your comment, I always appreciate hearing others views. I do want to point out that I think that you are missing the main point of the article. That is, if it takes more, or even as much, energy to produce ethanol as you gain it is a no win game. On top of that, there is actually a limited amount of land available for farming. Considering the fact that America uses almost a terawatt of energy in transportation we do not even have enough space to produce fuel at 1% efficiency much less at negative efficiency. Politicians and the general public need to realize that there are much better alternatives out there (and I am not talking about "clean" coal), we just need to put our money in the right place. Thank you for your comment, I always appreciate hearing others views. I do want to point out that I think that you are missing the main point of the article. That is, if it takes more, or even as much, energy to produce ethanol as you gain it is a no win game. On top of that, there is actually a limited amount of land available for farming. Considering the fact that America uses almost a terawatt of energy in transportation we do not even have enough space to produce fuel at 1% efficiency much less at negative efficiency. Politicians and the general public need to realize that there are much better alternatives out there (and I am not talking about “clean” coal), we just need to put our money in the right place.

]]> By: Jason http://thegreenertruth.com/2010/01/the-ethanol-conundrum/comment-page-1/#comment-2 Jason Thu, 28 Jan 2010 16:19:05 +0000 http://thegreenertruth.com/?p=15#comment-2 Sir, You are slightly confused, so I want to clarify a couple of items for you: 1. Corn subsidies are non-existent today. With higher priced corn ~$4/bu., the government doesn't spend $8 billion subsidy of the 90's and early 2000's. Therefore, since the blenders (Big oil) are only subsidized $5 billion as an incentive to blend EtOH with gasoline (aside from blending economics; ethanol is cheaper than gasoline). Therefore, ethanol saves our nation $3 billion in gov't subsidies alone. 2. You're confusing on your photosynthesis statement, as you wouldn't otherwise be utilizing that sunlight currently for energy production. Why does it matter, then, if photosynthesis is then 1% effective in corn? It's sun, a free source of renewable energy. 3. 2.8 gallons produced per bushel. You're 10% off. Statistically significant. 4. Your energy balance summary doesn't account for energy saved (not consumed) by displacing oil-based products with ethanol. 5. The CBO incdicated ethanol production account for ~0.5 of the 5.1% rise in food prices throughout '08. The high priced gasoline ethanol replaces accounted. for 1.1% of that rise. http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/100xx/doc10057/04-08-Ethanol.pdf 6. Food Production http://www2.kenyon.edu/projects/farmschool/food/corntyp.htm Please see the difference on Field (Dent) vs. Sweet. Thanks for your time, Sir,

You are slightly confused, so I want to clarify a couple of items for you:

1. Corn subsidies are non-existent today. With higher priced corn ~$4/bu., the government doesn’t spend $8 billion subsidy of the 90’s and early 2000’s. Therefore, since the blenders (Big oil) are only subsidized $5 billion as an incentive to blend EtOH with gasoline (aside from blending economics; ethanol is cheaper than gasoline). Therefore, ethanol saves our nation $3 billion in gov’t subsidies alone.

2. You’re confusing on your photosynthesis statement, as you wouldn’t otherwise be utilizing that sunlight currently for energy production. Why does it matter, then, if photosynthesis is then 1% effective in corn? It’s sun, a free source of renewable energy.

3. 2.8 gallons produced per bushel. You’re 10% off. Statistically significant.

4. Your energy balance summary doesn’t account for energy saved (not consumed) by displacing oil-based products with ethanol.

5. The CBO incdicated ethanol production account for ~0.5 of the 5.1% rise in food prices throughout ‘08. The high priced gasoline ethanol replaces accounted. for 1.1% of that rise. http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/100xx/doc10057/04-08-Ethanol.pdf

6. Food Production http://www2.kenyon.edu/projects/farmschool/food/corntyp.htm
Please see the difference on Field (Dent) vs. Sweet.

Thanks for your time,

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