Ethanol is Worse Than Fossil Fuels Says Science Magazine

The problem is that corn does not produce enough ethanol per square mile. There is a wonderplant that I don't remember the name of that has a yield many many times that of corn, BUT that only grows in very hot climates - in other words, the sort of places you cannot easily produce food crops. Problem solved, so long as the world can agree to the exchange of commodities most needed in each market.

Who eats corn raw? I've heard of pigs and cows but never a president....But i guess it's ok when you have the IQ of a pig/cow.

i tend to agree... for small countries that can be self sufficent doing this it's ok, but brazil or the US or the EU pose a great threat to world stability if they convert to E!) or even E85... i think E85 is madness... also brazil is chopping down the rain forrest @ much a greater rate since farmers get more $$$ for crops that are the basis for ethanol based fuels...

bristol411s3: you mean sugar cane... cuba, brazil and other countries in the tropics/sub tropics can grow sugar cane @ a rate that is sustainable... but @ a great cost to the food supply for humans and animals...

There is no absolute substitute for oil just like there is none for fresh water. Whatever happened to cold fusion theories.

Americans need to eat less anyway. Give them a Euro sized meal and they'd dump it down their throats like itv was a tot of some shooter.

i read about this ages ago. ethanol, although is cleaner in terms of emissions, is not the fuel of the future. i wasnt aware it was being promoted a lot in america?i know saab are promoting their bio fuel cars a lot at the moment. growing crops takes up a lot of energy and other fuels to produce. manure produces methane which contributes to global warming as well. hydrogen is better but it uses a lot of energy to make it in the first place. technology needs to advance a lot before the energy released from ethanol is more than what is put into producing it through non environmentally detrimental means.

HOLY SHT* Bush works whit ethanol!!! ..the most stupid robot Ive ever seen XD

Let us not forget that when we use E85, there is a significant drop in efficiency/performance of the vehicle. Vehicles tend to average less miles per gallon compared to the traditional petrol - up to a 25% loss. Car and Driver magazine recently published an article concerning this issue

In Brazil the ethanol dont is produced from corn. It is produced from the sugar cane. Rende 7x more of the ethanol from corn per hectare. It is not planted in areas of forest. The soybean is. The current production moulds Americans are not efficient. The second generation of ethanol should resolve this. Do not eat, or anything that contains soy bebam then, as they are planted in forest areas. Do not buy anything or not build anything of wood also, because they come from the forests worldwide. rangel.ricardo@bol.com.br Brasil

There have been reports out for some time that corn isn't a good source for ethanol production. Only part of the plant is used and the rest goes to waste. This article and the "Science Magazine" to me sound more like someone trying to further their personal agenda against ethanol. Not a single source is cited nor is the magazine even named. Don't forget just because it is on the Internet doesn't mean it is true! I haven't personally made up my mind on the viability of ethanol yet because what I do know (from reliable publications that cite their souces) is the technology hasn't been perfected yet and there is work being done on using alternative crops (switch grass is one that comes to mind) where 100% of the plant is used. These crops do grow in the same climate as corn so that isn't an issue. To me the lower efficiency of ethanol is a problem and I don't know that I would want to change to ethanol if the power output and range doesn't get a little better. I tend to think of it more as a short term solution that will be replaced by a better alternative down the road. What I do know is the worlds dependence on middle-eastern oil sources has gotten to an unacceptably high level. To keep saying "gasoline is better" ignores this fact alltogether as well as the history of fuel shortages in the past. Anyone thought about the fuel crisis in the early 70s? The US is at least twice as dependant on foreign oil now than it was then! Consider what it would be like to go back to the days of fuel rationing and long lines at the filling station! I say give the alternaives a chance and do your homework so you can make an informed decision before you make up your mind.

The only reason GM and Ford are pursuing E85 vehicles is because, under the coming fuel economy laws of 2020, fuel consumption for E85 vehicles will only take into account the oil-derived percentage of the fuel; in this case, the 15% gasoline. Even if there is no infrastructure for E85 and all such vehicles run on regular gasoline, the auto manufacturers will meet their fuel economy goals. Ethanol is not an eco-friendly alternative to gasoline; it is merely a renewable means of easing our oil dependence with hidden political agendas backing it.

ethanol isn't a long term solution by any means, it's just an easy cop-out right now. Sugar cane is far more conducive to ethanol production. Given how ethical oil firms are I wouldn't be surprised if they genetically modify sugar cane to grow in colder climates.

is here in Brazil we has Etanol cars since 1978 the first is one Fiat 147 our Etanol is made with Sugar cane (cana de a??ucar)and the first car with E85 is Volkswagen Gol GIII Total Flex, already it makes 30 years using the Etanol and did not cause problems, unhappyly I find that the USA do not have ground good for the sugar cane plantation, the sugar cane has 3 subproducts: sugar, the broth of sugar cane (very delicious), and the distilled cacha??a(distilled drink), and Corn has more subproducts that sugar cane.

TO SMOKEONIT1 and BRISTOL: The plant Bristol is talking about is called Miscanthus. Annual alcohool yield is twice as high when compared to corn and 1,5 time higher compared to sugar cane. Trouble is, Miscanthus as well as other simmilar grasses are grown in native area of subtropic and tropic Asia and Africa which are pretty far from US and EU. Sophisticated technology supposed to be used for Ethanol production of the grasses is not that cheap as well. Obviously, Miscanthus and co. would not save giant american and european petrol burners cuz they don't have territories to grow it. By other means transportation and production costs reflected into bioethanol price would probably make itsensless. It could be an alternative for big asian petrol burner like China or may be some africans definitely not for us.

SAAB's E85 acutually produces better power and better toque than in the same car same motor in a petrol version as for the range i belive that it is not sacrificed

First of all, here in america it,s not like we can't start farms specifically for ethanol. I mean have you ever seen Missouri? or Kansas? next there a re plants other than corn that can be used to make ethanol. Like sugar cane or even algae. People, get the facts.