Unfortunately ethanol is a boondoggle. Ethanol production from corn is a subsidized program that basically, at the bottom line, takes taxpayers $ and gives it to the methanol industry AND corn farmers. When all is said and done and you account for all the petroleum consumption in the production and distribution of ethanol (including but not limited to fertilizer, farmers diesel, transport diesel, and so forth, there is very little (some say if any) net gain.
Corn to ethanol serves as a means of diverting $ to farmers who in turn support the politicians who support the program. It also diverts lots of taxpayer's $ to the big ag outfits like ADM (Archer Daniels Midland: A Case Study In Corporate Welfare) who also support the politicians that keep the system in place.
This cabal is self serving and cares not one wit about reducing dependence on foreign oil and barely if at all results in a reduction of foreign oil consumption.
I'm all for sustainable renewable energy resources but ethanol from corn IS NOT IT. It is a travesty perpetuated through greed and influence. The public is deluded. Some of us like to "FEEL GREEN" and don't want to admit the Emperor is naked.
As for every little bit helps... Think of this. You are on the Titanic, it is sinking, the band is playing, some misguided do gooder organizes a bucket brigade and gets all the passengers and ships personnel to participate in the bucket brigade using a couple sewing thimbles for buckets. Hours pass and the members of the bucket brigade are bathed in sweat regardless of the chilly outside temps and are fatigued to the point of collapsing from exhaustion. Through their industrious and selfless participation they have: 1. slowed the sinking by less than a second, and 2. diverted every willing participant from doing something that might actually save some lives.
Corn to ethanol is like that. So long as the majority think it is "GREEN" and a good thing (while it actually is neither) there is insufficient impetus to get better processes in place. Processes such as cellulose to butanol for example. Butanol is much closer to gasoline in its attributes than ethanol, more energy density than ethanol BUT it would be made from cellulose. The early voting Iowa farmers and ADM don't have a lock on cellulose production. the Politicians in this cabal would lose their guaranteed votes and support because there are so many alternative sources for cellulose: scrap wood, grass, brush, recycled paper, and on and on.
I would just love to be able to run my vehicles on renewable green resource derived motor fuels and am willing to pay some premium to be able to do it. I'd be happy to see the US not import a single drop of petroleum and watch the attitudes of certain near eastern countries change. Unfortunately ethanol is NOT going to git 'er done.
Pat
