Ethanol a Massive Waste

[jrance@iacwds.com 716]

Ethanol a Massive Waste

 

By Terry Wallace, The Intelligencer, March 9, 2011

 

 

 

In 1944, Hitler's Schutzstaffel commandeered the entire European potato crop and turned it into ethanol to fuel V2 rockets. With their foreign oil sources interdicted by Allied advances, the Germans resorted to replacing imported oil supplies by converting civilian food stocks into ethanol.

 

 

 

The Nazi terror weapon turned out to be a military disaster that consumed and diverted huge quantities of resources from the war effort while producing negligible impact on the outcome of World War II. Beyond the 7,500 civilian and military personnel who were killed outright by the weapon, however, untold thousands more civilians died of starvation and malnutrition in order to feed the vengeance weapon.

 

 

 

To an extent, we are driving down much the same road with our current ethanol program in America but, at least for now, our potatoes are safe. Under the twin banners of reducing dependence on foreign oil and lowering the environmental impact of gasoline, our government chose to divert much of our corn supply into ethanol production. This in turn has driven up the cost of corn-based human and animal food products and, as the realities of supply and demand take hold, producing even more corn for ethanol is crowding out other food crops.

 

 

 

Refined to only 95 percent purity and blended 10 percent up to 85 percent with gasoline, ethanol introduces water and other substances into the fuel supply and contains about a third less energy than the same amount of gasoline. For example, a Chevrolet Impala rated at 19 MPG city and 29 MPG highway using gasoline is reduced to 14 MPG city and 22 highway using E85.

 

 

 

Even worse, ethanol does little, if anything, to extend our fuel supplies. The total energy we derive from corn ethanol is approximately equal to the amount of energy required to produce it. In the parlance of bookies, that's a push.

 

 

 

Ethanol/gasoline blends have also proven unfriendly to many of the components in fuel systems, including those of older cars and motorcycles. From half-million dollar Packards to GTOs and E-type Jaguars, carefully preserved and restored classic vehicles nurtured by millions of hobbyists and enthusiast are particularly susceptible to the ravages of alcohol-laced gasoline and there are virtually no alternatives available at the neighborhood gas station. The effect is so severe that aircraft engines certified to operate on automotive gasoline continue to use more expensive, ethanol-free avgas to avoid disastrous fuel system degradation.

 

 

 

Ethanol from corn is so uneconomical that Congress has to support it in a least three different ways - with a mandate for its use, a tax credit to subsidize it, and a tariff to keep out competitors. On top of that, oil companies get another 45 cents per gallon for blending it into the gasoline supplies. Rarely do so many mechanisms of government collude to prop up and force-feed us such a woeful product, and all at taxpayer expense.

 

 

 

Even former ethanol champion Al Gore has changed his mind from insisting, "the more we can make this home-grown fuel a successful, widely used product, the better off our farmers and our environment will be."

 

 

 

The former vice president and Nobel laureate now says, referring to ethanol, "It is not good policy to have these massive subsidies for first-generation ethanol," referring to corn-based ethanol. He called the fuel "a mistake," and confessed one reason he fell so hard for it is that he "had a certain fondness for the farmers in the state of Iowa."

 

 

 

The ethanol industry now forms a massive federal program that may be good for farm states, but is terrible for taxpayers. More than a third of our record corn harvest of 335 million metric tons is diverted away from food and used to produce ethanol. In five years, fully 50 percent of the U.S. corn crop is expected to wind up in our gas tanks.

 

 

 

Despite record deficits, Congress and the administration have wholeheartedly embraced corn ethanol and the tangle of subsidies, price supports, and tariffs that underpin the entire dubious enterprise of using corn to power our cars. New and existing initiatives are targeted toward tripling production to 36 billion gallons by 2022 while paying out billions more to subsidize producers into the 2030s.

 

 

 

Meanwhile, with proven domestic reserves sufficient to carry us well into the 23rd century, the coal and oil industries continue to be vilified at every level while they produce most of the fuel and electricity in the country. By passing Congress, our government is using the Environmental Protection Agency to relentlessly savage them with insidious and extra-statutory regulations.

 

 

 

It's clear that the EPA is less a watchdog for the environment and more an instrument of the "social justice" our current government has built itself upon. If the EPA were solely acting to protect the environment and the nation, corn ethanol would be treated as the scourge it is and not as an alternative to oil and coal.

 

 

 

The ethanol bandwagon is anything but green. Congress and the administration need to reconsider whether they are throwing good money after bad. If the ethanol boondoggle illustrates anything, it is that thinking ecologically will require thinking much more logically, as well.

 

 

 

If we are going to jump on any bandwagons, they need to be red, white and blue.

 

 

 

 

 

Guest columnist Terry Wallace is a senior fellow at the Public Policy Foundation of West Virginia and a senior fellow at the Government Policy Research Center at West Liberty University. He is a native of Bellaire.

 

 

http://www.theintelligencer.net/page/content.detail/id/552759/Ethanol-a-Massive-Waste.html?nav=509

[grendelz 61]

Great read. Now I understand why my Cadillac hates that ethanol blend shit.

[sunnybean 939]

You should rent, or stream, the movie 'King Corn'.

[G O B 3,516]

Having less energy than gasoline, ethanol fuels are deadly to carbureted engines. The lower energy density causes the engine to run LEAN to the point of warping heads and melting exhaust valves.

[BpS12 512]

Ya horse feed alone has tripled in the last few years just because corn has been diverted for Ethanol. Great for the Corp. farmers, disatrous for the small livestock farms. Just another good idea gone horribly bad. And our lovely gov. is funding this crap.

 

Can I repost this? Maybe to facebook?

 

And lets not forget the High Fructuse Corn Syrup Myth, "It's all good in moderation." Sadly, when it's in most EVERYTHING, there is NO moderation.

Edited March 10, 2011 by BpS12

[rocinante 100]

It was never a good idea just another farm subsidy program. I don't think all the energy put into growing grain and the energy needed to process it into alcohol even breaks even in energy production. Only government has deep enough pockets to waste money on projects that have no economic possibilities of making sense. Germany is souring over all the wind mills they have constructed that cost more than they produce.

 

Whatever happened to Bush's hydrogen economy he boldly declared in one of his state of the union speeches?

 

I personally wish they would build nuclear plants and be done with it.

[volkov 318]

Edited March 10, 2011 by volkov

[crackback 135]

Having less energy than gasoline, ethanol fuels are deadly to carbureted engines. The lower energy density causes the engine to run LEAN to the point of warping heads and melting exhaust valves.

 

 

No joke, my old 5.0 is no longer N/A and was having relatively mild detonation/lean running problems that, to make a long story short, was traced back to the damn BP station's 93 having 10% ETOH which was not taken into account for awhile b/c all previous testing used the Citgo 93 which did not (at that time) contain ETOH. Now I try not to use Citgo anymore as I realize I am supporting a socialist dictator, but I digress.

[MD_Willington 11]

It sure is a waste... the DOE is pushing more money into bio butinol (isobutinol) research,

this bio fuel is made from woody material that we cannot eat.

 

BESC scores a first with isobutanol directly from cellulose

http://www.ornl.gov/ornlhome/print/press_release_print.cfm?ReleaseNumber=mr20110307-00

 

The cool thing about Butinol, you can run it just like gasoline in an IC engine,

you're running straight solvent all the time if it is pure butinol.

[ktcm7271 999]

The cellulose technology is the most promising, but not there yet. Back during the 70's fuel crunch, Brazil invested billions into becoming independent. They have plenty of sugar cane so they convert that to ethenal and use the husks as fuel for the distilling process. They also built a lot of hydro dams as well. Our best and brightest were to busy taking kick backs to do that.

[TTMR 11]

I know some forced induction guys who like it because with bigger injectors and a retune they can run more boost and go faster.

 

But from an eco standpoint it's not a pretty picture

[UltimateWarrior 0]

It has been a farce since day 1. Why do we continue to allow our government officials to lie to us and get away with it?

[timy 1,185]

All true, but if you catch it before they add the denaturant you have some really potent White Lightning.

[DrThunder88 912]

Whatever happened to Bush's hydrogen economy he boldly declared in one of his state of the union speeches?

 

I personally wish they would build nuclear plants and be done with it.

I imagine there's a price threshold before any major, lasting changes come to the petroleum economy. Until then, there's still several supertankers worth of money to be pumped out of the ground and into fuel tanks and factories. Still, it would be nice for the US to produce enough hydrogen to be self-sustaining or even profitable. There'd be outrage from the NIMBY namby-pambies and forest-blind tree-huggers if someone were to build a string of nuclear-powered cracking stations along the Eastern Seaboard, but if it could be made profitable it would be hugely profitable.

[G O B 3,516]

There is enough geothermal heat under Yellowstone to power America for thousands of years.

[rocinante 100]

There is enough geothermal heat under Yellowstone to power America for thousands of years.

 

I agree and think geothermal energy is an inexhaustible energy source. The greenies out to be all hyped up on finding ways to drill down for energy instead of looking up to the sky.

 

Yellowstone could put America back into the pre industrial age and she is overdue to pop. Same with the New Madrid fault. Both have been showing signs of activity.

[MT Predator 2,294]

Having less energy than gasoline, ethanol fuels are deadly to carbureted engines. The lower energy density causes the engine to run LEAN to the point of warping heads and melting exhaust valves.

 

It's not healthy for older fuel injected engines either. Ethanol eats up older fuel injectors. I had to retrofit newer style injectors in my old 300ZX because of it. Don't get me started on Bio-diesel! Just as bad.

Edited March 13, 2011 by MT Predator

[blkgunlvr 31]

Geothermal works fine for Iceland - the whole country is the size of Yellowstone and sitting on top of it. Geothermal is nice, but it is highly corrosive, releases hydrogen sulfide, requires wires to get the power transmitted away from tne source (what about the trees and the owls?) and how many miles range do you get driving on a tankful of steam? One of the big fights over solar and wind right now is high-tension transmission lines (the lack of and resistance to the upsizing or new installation of them). West Texas is full of windmills right now that are not wired to any electrical distribution grid.

[uzitiger 193]

Most cars will suffer from ethanol damage to the fuel system unless they are multi fuel. The seals are not formulated to ethanol and may be damaged.

 

Government programs always cause a mess and never go away. This one diverts energy research which could be used for making a liquid fuel from coal. This country has enough coal and oil to tell the Arabs to drink their oil but the politicians want to make this country dependent on the Arabs and put our economy at their mercy.

[G O B 3,516]

Geothermal works fine for Iceland - the whole country is the size of Yellowstone and sitting on top of it. Geothermal is nice, but it is highly corrosive, releases hydrogen sulfide, requires wires to get the power transmitted away from tne source (what about the trees and the owls?) and how many miles range do you get driving on a tankful of steam? One of the big fights over solar and wind right now is high-tension transmission lines (the lack of and resistance to the upsizing or new installation of them). West Texas is full of windmills right now that are not wired to any electrical distribution grid.

 

So make hydrogen, and truck the energy where you need it. In hydrogen powered trucks! I call BS on geothermal being polluting. The major waste products would be O2 and sulfur. Super conducting Xmission lines are just starting to come into use. When there is enough electricity to justify the investment (like an unlimited supply, not the scattered trickle of wind) it suddenly becomes practical. Unless you are heavily invested in Peabody and BP.

[blkgunlvr 31]

[G O B 3,516]

[BronCobraJet 80]

I'm calling for any help I can get here. A local farmer, Scott McPheeters, who is a board member of KAAPA Ethanol (a farmer owned ethanol plant here in NE) is given front page news paper space saying "Ethanol helps, not hurts, consumers". We all know this is BS and an all out lie. If any one could help, I would like to write up a rebuttal to his story. I have read where gas companies get 45 cents per gallon of ethanol to blend it in with their mix. What I need, is anyone who has facts on water usage to produce corn, fuel to sow, fertilize and harvest corn, and what the actual end results are, compared to how much ethanol one can get out of a bushel of corn. Not counting the government subsidy (our tax dollars) Any info you can provide with a back up info from where that data was obtained will be benificial. I need a clear clean concise rebutal. I don't know where to research his hypocracy. Thank you.

[Sly 233]

C'mon? You really don't know? Study this. (I hate wiki)

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsanto

 

This company is EVIL incarnate. They rule the GM seed world with an iron fist. The GM crops contaminate every patch they are planted in, Then contaminate the surrounding gound.

 

Study the law suit's by them, and against them. If they find there GM seed gene's in your private garden? THEY own it, not the farmer. The GM plant's WILL NOT reproduce. Meaning they have to be purchased every season (get it yet?)

 

Do some homework on "RoundupReady"........It's SICK!!!!

 

 

And the Gov support's it totally.