Re: Ethanol isn't the answer...


"Christian Williamson" <c.willi@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:KRQkg.1912$Td6.929@xxxxxxxxxxx

For those of you hoping ethanol is a way to quit relying on Middle
Eastern emirs and socialists in South America: Ethanol is too expensive.

"U.S. taxpayers today pay twice for ethanol: once in crop subsidies to
corn farmers and again in a 51-cent subsidy for every gallon of ethanol.
Without such a subsidy, ethanol simply wouldn't be cost competitive with
gasoline. Then last year, Congress went further and passed a new ethanol
mandate, requiring drivers to use at least 7.5 billion gallons annually
by 2012."
...
"The most widely cited research on this subject comes from Cornell's
David Pimental and Berkeley's Ted Patzek. They've found that it takes
more than a gallon of fossil fuel to make one gallon of ethanol--29%
more. That's because it takes enormous amounts of fossil-fuel energy to
grow corn (using fertilizer and irrigation), to transport the crops and
then to turn that corn into ethanol. The Saudis ought to love the stuff."

http://www.opinionjournal.com/weekend/hottopic/?id=110008530


In support of your post:

It seems that gasoline has almost a 1.5 advantage over ethanol in BTU
content. That means a car using ethanol would have to have a 30
gallon tank, to drive the same distance as a gasoline fueled car with a
20 gallon tank. This assumes the two autos are identical except for
the fuel capacity.

Or from another angle, if ethanol sells for $2 a gallon and gas at $3 a
gallon, I'm going to spend $60 for my 30 gallon ethanol tank and $60
for my gasoline vehicle. I know....I'm pulling fuel prices out of the air
on this one. But the point here is that the cost advantage of ethanol
over gasoline may not be so sharp. And dollars spent at the pump is
what consumers see. We may not have much choice, however, in the
years to come. It's not an easy one to call.

What follows is a comparison of BTU content for various fuels. This
came from:

http://www.vigyanprasar.com/comcom/definition.htm

Average energy content of different resources :

1 kilowatt-hour of electricity ... 3,413 Btu
1 cubic foot of natural gas ... 1,008 to 1,034 Btu
1 therm of natural gas ... 100,000 Btu
1 gallon of liquefied petroleum gas(LPG) ... 95,475 Btu
1 gallon of crude oil ... 138,095 Btu
1 barrel of crude oil ... 5,800,000 Btu
1 gallon of kerosene or light distillate oil ... 135,000 Btu
1 gallon middle distillate or diesel fuel oil ... 138,690 Btu
1 gallon residential fuel oil ... 149,690 Btu

1 gallon of gasoline ... 125,000 Btu
1 gallon of ethanol ... 84,400 Btu
(The ratio of gas to ethanol is 1.48)

1 gallon of methanol ... 62,800 Btu
1 gallon gasohol
(10% ethanol, 90% gasoline) ... 120,900 Btu
1 pound of coal ... 8,100-13,000 Btu
1 ton of coal ... 16,200,00-26,000,000 Btu
1 ton of coke ... 26,000,000 Btu
..
1 ton of wood ... 9,000,00-17,000,000 Btu
1 standard cord of wood ... 18,000,000-24,000,000 Btu
1 face cord of wood ... 6,000,000-8,000,000 Btu

RO





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