"Jason Bleazard" <dml@bleazard.net> wrote:
: On Fri, March 31, 2006 8:11 pm, jon@dakota-truck.net said:
:>
:> Brazil has a huge investement in ethanol, I think practically their
:> entire automotive population is using flex fuel engines.
:>
:> My main problem with ethanol and other biofuels is that they are
:> not sustainable with current technology.
: Well, I wasn't going to throw any more fuel (get it? FUEL! HA!) on this
: particular fire, but since you mention it, I did come across this article
: today...
: http://www.livescience.com/environment/060126_ethanol_better.html
: (They also mention Brazil in passing.)
: I'm not sure which studies to believe, mostly I think the point is that nobody
: really knows exactly what the story is. There's too much speculation and wild
: guesses being thrown around to say for sure one way or the other.
Yep, regrettably this is one of those issues that politics has clouded.
Rather than studying the issue on its own merits, it seems like researchers
will approach certain issues with preconceived notions, and their work will
try to bias it towards their own particular leanings. So far, I'm still
in the "anti ethanol" camp (well, that's a bit harsh, perhaps the "viewing
ethanol with a healthy dose of skepticism camp" would be more accurate.) :-)
The reason for this is just that what I have seen so far seems to tip
the scales away from ethanol. 6 high profile studies against versus one
for, the fact that ethanol has been around for nearly a century (it
powered the very first automobiles before it was discarded for the more
powerful and cheaper gasoline) and has yet to establish a foothold
despite the gov't subsidies established in the 70s. I find it interesting
(telling) that ethanol proponents are quick to dismiss the lower energy
content and high input energy requirements of their product by saying
these are mitigated by some of the byproducts of the production such
as cattle feed, while seemingly ignoring the staggering amount and value
of the byproducts of gasoline production such as diesel fuel/heating oil,
propane, a variety of oils and lubricants, a vast array of plastics, etc.
Plus, throw in the fact that the biofuel producers themselves use fossil
fuels rather than their own biofuels to produce biofuels, and all the
evidence just seems to add up to biofuels being much ado about nothing,
in my book. Hopefully technology will catch up and make biofuels a viable
alternative (another energy source would be a great thing!) but so far,
they are little more than an interesting experiment and a promising glimpse
into the future, not quite ready for prime time.
--
-Jon-
.- Jon Steiger --- jon@dakota-truck.net or jon@jonsteiger.com -.
| 67 Dodge Coronet, 70 Plymouth Barracuda, 76 Peugeot TSA |
| 78 Dodge B100, 90 Dodge Dakota Convertible, 92 Dodge Ram 4x4 |
| 96 Dodge Dakota, 96 Suzuki Intruder 1400, 96 Kolb FireFly |
| 99 Jeep Cherokee 4x4, 01 Dodge Ram 3500 CTD |
`--------------------------------- http://www.jonsteiger.com --'
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