ABC 20/20---Corn Ethanol

[Monkeyman]

Run time: 04:44 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9QQcP_Y1II   Posted on YouTube: May 12, 2007 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: May 14, 2007 By DU Member: Monkeyman Views on DU: 1023

 
This is under the file hmmm

[mediaman007]

1. I really can't stand Stossell...but he's right on this one!

We need to look beyond corn-based ethanol...how about hemp!

[bridgit]

2. Standford researcher tags corn ethanol as providing unacceptable health risks...

all are urged to seek out funding of research on both sides http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-w/2007/apr/science/ee_ethanol.html

[SteelPenguin]

3. Yeah I've not been on this bandwagon either

I've seen studies, not by the CATO Institute, showing that on balance it just doesnt' make any sense. On top of what this video lays out, there is the whole aspect of food costs going up. Each acre of corn that goes to ethanol that previously went to feed cows raises meat and dairy prices. Supposedly we're already seeing the costs go up. Imagine if we went full bore ethanol.

[purduejake]

4. Not really cheaper at the pump, either.

I use a flex-fuel vehicle and appreciate the initial savings at the pump per gallon, however it isn't as energy dense as normal petrol, so it goes faster. I usually alternate fuels because I can't decide which is the lesser of two evils. For now I like using ethanol simply because it diverts money to domestic sources.

[Scriptor Ignotus]

5. i agree that ethanol will not save us entirely

but there is some suspicious logic here. the cato guy claims that the transportation costs and processing costs will counteract ethanlol's benefits. ummm, can't the transporation trucks run on ethanol too?

also, isn't some of this money going towards research, to improve efficiency? aren't other biofuels being discussed as well (ie switchgrass, sugars, etc)?

ethanol is not a great solution TODAY. but can't we pump some R&D money into it so that it can become the solution for tomorrow? seems foolish to entirely discount its potential...

[ProudDad]

7. Nope

"can't the transporation trucks run on ethanol too?"

No, they're diesel. They can run on bio-diesel but since that's made from plant/animal oils, it has some of the same liabilities as ethanol.

There are other technologies and strategies that could be much more viable even in the short term if money is devoted to R&D -- see my post below.

[ProudDad]

6. This was an extremely good piece

Even a stopped clock (Cato) is correct twice a day.

This is probably the best short description of why ethanol is a lousy idea. They forgot Cargil but did mention ADM.

To improve our energy situation, in order of efficacy:

1) CONSERVATION - just use less
a) drive less
b) more appropriate mass transit
c) eat less meat! Healthy and conservative
d) use less electricity

2) Truly renewable net energy gain
Where Appropriate;
a) Solar
b) Wind
c) Water

We should immediately embark on a Manhattan project level push for development of truly renewable energy sources.

[Scriptor Ignotus]

9. Americans won't conserve

unless gas goes over $5 a gallon. Then it will be sticker shock like we've never seen.

The "Manhattan Project" for renewable energy is way, way overdue.

[Bread and Circus]

8. The funny thing is this just a form of solar power...

using plant photosynthesis to capture that energy and the carbohydrates to store it. There's nothing magic about it and unfortunately it sounds like a very inefficient way to capture, store, and transfer solar energy.

Wind power and direct solar cells would be better but the problem is that once you give people a way to harness and use their own energy efficiently, you can't put a meter on the tap like you can for a product like ethanol (or fossil fuel). Because there is no huge profit motive in harnessing sunlight directly (because you only make money on the sale of equipment, not the energy itself), there is no push by big energy and the government to push it down our throats they way they are with ethanol and other forms of meterable energy.

I just hope for a solar/wind/hydrogen fuel cell (or other clean/efficient way of storing/transporting) economy someday. Anyone with some acres and some sunshine could become and energy producer. Energy could become a small business endeavor by harnessing energy locally and selling it to power the grid. I don't think anything is going to happen any time soon. A lot of people derive benefit off the system as is and want to keep it that way.

The ethanol thing is just a cynical political ploy for the Iowa farm vote.

The problem w/ Stossel's piece is that he wants to throw the baby out with the bathwater and continue to feed into the use of fossil fuels because of the expediency. The problem is that the oil industry is much more heavily subsidized (think Iraq WAR for starters) than ethanol or solar based fuel systems are or likely will be any time soon.

Once we get our heads out of our asses and start harnessing the massive amounts of energy that falls on our country everyday we will become richer than you could possible imagine.

Think of this:

Could you imagine how much fossil fuel it would take to light and heat up your town the way the sun does on an average day? How many billions of lightbulbs and furnaces it would take just to do that for one town? I've done the math and it's like 9 100watt lightbulbs per square yard. That like one house having 2000 lightbulbs alone. Now think about how the sun does this EVERY FREAKIN' DAY FOR FREE.
That's not even counting your back yard or the road outside of your house. There's really that much untapped and unharnessed energy.

I've read that 100square miles of Nevada desert daily sunshine is = to the electricity that the country uses on a day to day basis. I've also read that in 72 hours more sun energy hits the earth than the energy of all fossil fuel we will ever find.

Think about how many zillion barrels of oil it would take just to warm the oceans. Again, this is something that the sun does every day for free.

It's not that energy isn't there, it's that we don't have will and wisdom to use it.

The practical problem right now is "lack of efficiency" because on a watt per watt basis oil often looks cheaper. The problem is that if we dedicated ourselves to the right kinds of systems we could make a solar based economy much cheaper. Not only that, we could tell the oil barons of the mideast to fuck off which would be a favor to us and probably moreso to them because we'd leave them the hell alone.

[ProudDad]

10. My SO and I just bought a house in Arizona

The FIRST thing we're going to do is setup rainwater harvesting in time for the monsoon in July.

The 2nd thing we're going to do is install solar and watch the meter run backward for a while!

The next thing we're going to do is to eat locally -- farmer's markets and local growers and get off of the corporate grocery store grid.

Etc, etc, etc. Someone has to start the ball rolling it might as well be us!