Ill-conceived rush to ethanol

[CHIMO]

"Biofuels are economical nonsense, ecologically useless and ethically indefensible," Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, chairman of Nestlé SA, the world's largest food company, wrote recently in a Wall Street Journal essay.

"Every 10,000 litres of water produces as little as five litres of ethanol, or one to two litres of biodiesel. This year, the U.S. will use around 130 million tons of corn for biofuels. This corn was not available as human food, nor as fodder to animals. Is this the right strategy, for a product that won't satisfy even a small percentage of our energy needs?"

Given the substantial amount of energy required to produce corn-based ethanol, it is a net contributor of greenhouse-gas emissions, so it actually contributes slightly to the climate-change crisis. As for energy security, ethanol's lower energy content means it requires 1.33 gallons of E85 to travel the same distance as one gallon of gasoline.

http://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/451291

[ironflange]

1. Aw, come on

Think of how good the guy in the Hummer will feel. You know, the one who paid an extra two grand (why shouldn't GM make hay from this?) for his E85 engine in the thing. He can rest well at night knowing he has really helped the world by filling it with that nice clean efficient ethanol blend.

Yes, this is :sarcasm:. And hydrogen is an even bigger scam than ethanol.

BTW, I wonder how much corn has to be turned to C2H5OH so our hero can fill up his tank. How many people, or even cows or chickens, will it feed?

[CHIMO]

2. He Can

Feel great.

But we have to pay.

The energy required to prepare the planting, the energy required to plant and bring in the harvest is only the start.
It then has to be changed into a wine, then the alcohol separated from the water. It all takes a lot of energy.
Once the ethanol has been extracted it has to be protected from the atmosphere or it will absorb moisture.

It all takes energy.

The only way that it is economically possible, is by subsidies. And all for one atom of oxygen in the molecule.

Has any one thought about the CO2 going into the environment when a sugar is changed into ethanol?

It is one big scam. From an economic point and an environmental point.

[daleo]

3. I think he has a point about bio-fuels

But Nestle SA doesn't have the greatest reputation, as far as I can recall. So, I wonder what his (Nestle's CEO) angle is.