Randy Doyal, William Lee: Ethanol's not perfect -- just better ...

Given the success quoted in this article, surely Minnesota can stop subsidies.

Based on their success, private capital should be flooding in.

This is one of the most honest and eloquent defenses of ethanol I have read. Very well done.

And to Jim Sanford, the oil industry is controlled by OPEC. The set prices as they wish and completely distort the market. An arrangement such as that would have been broken up decades ago by U.S. law, but unfortunately we are powerless to stop them. How can ethanol or any other fuel compete without subsidies against an opponent with the power to change the rules as they wish? This is not your ordinary supply/demand relationship. They artificially control supply to create the climate in which they want to operate.

Plus, there are very few E85 vehicles. On open market implies an equal opportunity to meet demand. Oil has sole access to 90 percent of the demand.

You improved the processes by which corn ethanol is produced now lets get moving on developing efficient alternative sourced ethanol production. The less corn we use for 'corn-only' ethanol, the more folks we can feed and keep from starving.

Also, built your ethanol plants near bio/syn or petroleum facilities for easier distribution and blending. This will cut/reduce foreign energy import demand even further.

Good ole American ingenuity can work wonders!

Interesting article that ethanol might not be the best thing for the environment like we think it is. http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm...

But hey what do THEY know, their only Scientific American.

Ethanol: A Tragedy in 3 Acts
http://www.businessweek.com/print/autos/conte...

Amid the current panic about gas prices many people are embracing ethanol. But that's not such a good idea

During the comment period for the RFG (reformulated gas) program, supporters of ethanol had argued that the volatile organic compound (VOC) emission standards in the program -- 42 U. S. C. 7545 (k)(3)(B)(i)-- would preclude the use of ethanol in RFG because adding ethanol to gasoline increases its volatility and raises VOC emissions, especially in the summertime.

Background The American Petroleum Institute v. the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency [Docket #94-1502 (Heard by the U. S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and decided on April 28, 1995)]

If there were ever a time when the truth in advertising standards should be put back into place, it's now -- during the current (third) attempt to convince the public that the massive use of corn-derived ethanol in our gasoline supply will alleviate our need for foreign oil. Ultimately, the answer to just one question determines ethanol's actual usefulness as a gasoline extender: "If the government hadn't mandated this product, would it survive in a free market?" Doubtful -- but the misinformation superhighway has been rerouted to convince the public its energy salvation is at hand ....

(Excerpt) Read more at businessweek.com ...

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There is a whole other issue not considered by any of the economists. That is that in most of the Great Plains states, groundwater is used to grow the crops. That water is being depleted and not replaced. Using water to grow crops to produce vehicle fuel is to me a waste. It may make economical sense (then again it may not), but the water is irreplacable for use by individual farms, communities and for use in other crops. Here are some references:

http://www.kerrcenter.com/publications/ogalla...

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

http://www.iitap.iastate.edu/gcp/issues/socie...

http://www.choicesmagazine.org/2003-1/2003-1-... (Conserving the Ogallala Aquifer: Efficiency, Equity and Moral Motives)

http://www.uswaternews.com/archives/arcsupply... (Scientists say drought accelerating depletion of Ogallala Aquifer)

Read the first page of the first reference for some statistics. Sobering what depletion of the aquifer will mean for our agriculture.

Ethanol is a waste of resources. We're using food and more importantly water and lot's of it to produce something that has a marginal effect at best. It also is harder on cars and mileage. Considering that we also subsidize it, it's a complete and utter waste. I'm not attached to oil. If they could find out a way to run a car on mosquito poop I'd be thrilled. But ethanol is a scam.

Owl Gore, I noticed you mentioned that ethanol is a major user of our country's water resource. I am glad you mentioned it!

Owl Gore wrote:

Using water to grow crops to produce vehicle fuel is to me a waste. It may make economical sense (then again it may not), but the water is irreplacable for use by individual farms, communities and for use in other crops.

Water is an important part of life cycles and production processes, and ethanol is no exception. BUT, if we don't want to produce ethanol, what is our only alternative RIGHT NOW? Gasoline. And if water is the deciding factor, ethanol CLEARLY wins. According to the USGS, it recquires 44 gallons of water to refine a single gallon of oil. Today, according to the USDA, the ethanol industry as a whole uses and average of 3.5 gallons of water to process one gallon of ethanol. That is a savings of 40.5 gallons of water for every single gallon displaced! Since the ethanol industry can replace ten billion gallons of gasoline a year, it is saving our country 405 billon gallons of water a year. That is in the production process.

The overwhelming majority of our nations corn is grown in environments that have amounts of precipitation favorable for the crop. Saying that corn is "stealing" this water from communities is not a valid argument. The water used in the refining process is were our communities, homes, and aquifers feel the crunch. so lets cheer for ethanol SAVING us nearly half a trillon gallons a year.

In response to gtVoyageur...corn ethanol does not use corn that we can eat. It is corn for livestock. And a biproduct of ethanol is dried distillers grain so ethanol isn't starving the livestock either. Plus corn yields are increasing so this is truly a non-issue.

Most ethanol plants are built near the corn fields to reduce the cost of transporting the corn to the ethanol plants. So either way, you will have some freight costs. There also are some companies working together on an ethanol pipeline.

Gentlemen I appreciate your honest article.

One comment mentioned that we are using food for fuel, please note what the author mentioned "In 2008, the United States produced a record 9.2 billion gallons of ethanol and still exported more corn and fed more livestock than ever before."

I am one of those people that run an E85 pickup. I consistently averaged better mileage this winter running E85 instead of the winter blend E10. I see less than a 15% degredation in mileage in the summer, and E85 (where I buy it) is 75% of E10. Therefore I am getting more bang for my buck. I have over 50k on my pickup and have had no issues in the 4 years I've had it.

this "article" is equivalent to the president of AIG justifying the important need for Credit Default Swaps.

nothing like protecting your own cash-cow.