Re: Ethanol too expensive, new processing plants on hold

Hachiroku ハチロク wrote:
The price of corn has risen so sharply due to the demand to produce
ethanol, that it is not longer cost effective to produce ethanol as a
replacement for gasoline. Plans to build new ethanol plants are on hold,
and two plants under construction have filed for bankruptcy. Even with the
price of gasoline on the rise, it is now more expensive to produce a
gallon of ethanol than a gallon of gas, just as it was in the days when
gas was 'cheap'.

However, the rise in the price of corn has a multifaceted effect, since
when gas rises, the price of anything else rises to a small degree. When
the price of corn goes up, the price of anything made with corn also rises
to a greater degree, since all producers of any goods using corn have to
pay the same price.

Also, GreenPeace is now saying the ethanol is no less polluting than
gasoline, but then again, what did we expect from them?

Apparently, using ethanol from corn to power cars produces less greenhouse than using gasoline, when accounting for the fossil fuels required to grow and process the corn (transportation, purification of ethanol, etc.).

http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2006/01/26_ethanol.shtml

I have concerns about using the land for growing corn. I can't help but think that the land would better be used for other things, like growing food or restored as a forest.

jeff
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