http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050729/ap_on_bi_ge/ethanol_plants
Of course, this isn't new news. People have joked about this for the last few years, and everyone knows that it amounts to pork for our long-ailing farmers.
That doesn't mean that "biofuel" is a waste, however. The matter is "efficiency." A plant native to North American prairies, switchgrass, grows faster and needs less fertilizer than corn, along with growing on land that is often unfit for other crops. Additionally, it works also as animal feed, further reducing pressure on farmland. Increasing all automobile efficiency to that of a hybrid vehicle and switching to switchgrass, it is thought that you could meet 2/3 of U.S. transportation fuel demand with no additional land.
But ethanol is politically popular, so don't expect our pandering politicians to change their tune anytime soon.
Melon
"People are saying we need more (ethanol)," said Edward Murphy, director of refining and marketing at the American Petroleum Institute. "Whether or not that continues in the long term is, I think, politically questionable."
Recent research by a Cornell University professor says ethanol uses about 30 percent more energy to produce than it puts out.
"It's an absolute waste," said Dr. David Pimentel, a professor of agricultural sciences. "The only reason we're doing this is because of politics and big money."
Of course, this isn't new news. People have joked about this for the last few years, and everyone knows that it amounts to pork for our long-ailing farmers.
That doesn't mean that "biofuel" is a waste, however. The matter is "efficiency." A plant native to North American prairies, switchgrass, grows faster and needs less fertilizer than corn, along with growing on land that is often unfit for other crops. Additionally, it works also as animal feed, further reducing pressure on farmland. Increasing all automobile efficiency to that of a hybrid vehicle and switching to switchgrass, it is thought that you could meet 2/3 of U.S. transportation fuel demand with no additional land.
But ethanol is politically popular, so don't expect our pandering politicians to change their tune anytime soon.
Melon