Scary Corn by ~bushijutsuHat tip to Wagga for this find:
Jon Markman at MSN Money doesn't hold back when he says "Corn-based ethanol production is sure to go down as one of the greatest mistakes ever in U.S. energy policy." It's even more provoking when he writes "replacing fossil fuels with corn-based ethanol would double greenhouse gas emissions over the next three decades. The studies show that switchgrass, an alternative to ethanol that's more weed than plant, would boost emissions by 50%."The problem isn't with the cars, the problem is with what it takes to grow the biofuel in the first place. Clearing the land, harvesting, and refining the crops, plus the loss of forest and wild lands and habitats, amounts to creating a carbon footprint worse than fossil fuels. According to the Science article which, admittedly, posits an extreme scenario, it would take 423 years to even out the carbon debt if Indonesia's peat lands were converted to palm oil fields.
More from Science magazine declares ethanol worse for the Earth than fossil fuels
Algae-based ethanol seems to be a far more sensible solution.
10 comments:
Agreed -- corn ethanol is a net loss. It's just like the old solar panels that took more energy to produce than they released in their lifetimes.
You should think about posting this on CHC. It fits with WeWantTheFunk's general corn concept.
Oh, and Murst!
BTW there has been a rather interesting oil discussion over here.
Ethanol is a waste, hydrogen by the electrolysis of water has a far better future. The earth is being destroyed for greed.
I'm planning to take some free rides on this hydrogen fuel cell bus (unfortunately not my usual routes). $3.2 million seems awfully expensive though. Hopefully, the prices will start coming down soon.
Hydrogen currently has the same problem -- it takes more energy to crack water into hydrogen and oxygen than you get from burning the hydrogen. I don't know if that's an inherent quality, or if the efficiency could be improved. At least you can often find the raw materials near where the fuel will be consumed, unlike corn ethanol.
Completely OT, but I somehow missed this when it first appeared in the NYT a couple days ago. The suicide rate of 45-to-54-year-old Americans increased 20% between 1999 and 2004 and for women in that age group it increased 31% percent.
And some of the comments are rather interesting...
It's the economy, stupid. People aged 45-55 are among those most likely to be downsized, outsourced, laid off. Then they have no insurance or affordable medical care until they reach 65. Life has been getter tougher for many people, and national events are not cause for optimism.
— ajdemar, ca
Can you say "The Bush Years"?
— BrunoBrody, Los Angeles
One factor that cannot be discounted is that our nation is at war. Incidents of violence of all kinds always increase during years when we are at war. Suicide, in a sense is violence directed inward, toward oneself. The timing is not just a coincidence.
Another factor is likely the economy. Suicides also tend to increase during severe economic downturns. Remember the "Great Depression?"
— Leo Toribio, Pittsburgh, PA
Midlife divorce is also on the rise. Could there be a connection?
@Ogg,
Hmm, I didn't know that. Nonetheless, we can probably blame the Bush Admin for that too.
Hydrogen produced by sun power or wind could be used to generate electricity. Alas, they will do everything in the worst possible way.
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