Defending the Truth

Originally Posted by baloney_detector

From what I've read, the key to making Ethanol a viable form of vehicle fuel is in deriving it from cellulose-cornstalks and the straw of grains and grasses-rather than from corn itself.

Read an article in the January '07 issue of Scientific American for an interesting take on ethanol if you can.

Originally Posted by Jefferson

Yeah, I suppose that would explain why there are dozens of CORN ethanol plants throughout the Midwest - and dozens more being built right now.

Originally Posted by chrisg967

Actually, the article addresses the spurt in corn ethanol plant building, saying it is market driven due to the high cost of gasoline. This is according to Andy Karsner, the assistant secretary of energy for efficiency and renewable energy at the DOE.

Originally Posted by Jefferson

Actually, CORN is not THE best source of fuel-grade alcohol. But it's readily available, in MASS quantities.

Originally Posted by Jefferson

And why not invest in renewable energy sources like corn alcohol? It sure beats the heck out of supporting terrorists.

Originally Posted by Jefferson

Let's remove the blatant hypocrisy of politics from the issue for a moment:


For the last 40 years, our government has paid farmers to produce LESS corn. That policy is stupid. Corn ethanol could & should reverse that.

Burning corn alcohol is multiplied times better for the environment then burning fossil fuels. This should make environmentalists everywhere happy - even if blind partisan hacks like Tyreay have to eat crow because it's Republicans backing the measures.

Corn is not the only source of ethanol. Sugar beets, cane sugar and a whole host of other plants can be used to produce high amounts of alcohol/ethanol.

In addition, soybeans, sunflowers and a whole host of other "high oil content" crops can produce oil to be used fuel diesel vehicles. Those oils gel more quickly in cold climates, but BioDiesel works great in warm climates, and is also much better for the environment.

Throw in the current technology to produce and utilize electric vehicles - the energy for which can be harvested from the thousands of wind-generators that are being erected across the country. Millions of short-trip commuters could be driving 100% electric vehicles, with no emissions whatever.

All in all, we could easily cut by 75% our dependence on foreign oil WITHIN 5 YEARS. As a result, we could collectively "give the finger" to the terrorist regimes we buy crude oil from, and dry them up.

But there's one problem: WE DON'T WANT TO. Capitalism is driven by consumer demand. So until consumers by the millions - that means all of us - change our energy-consumption habits, drive less, and demand better, IT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. Instead, we've got soccer moms yakking on their cell phones, thundering down the highways 75 mph in massive 10 miles per gallon SUVs. We've got insecure men, trying to overcompensate for their perceived penis problems by driving enormous SuperDuty trucks - and driving them alone.


So forget hoping the politicians are going to make it happen. They're not. Consumers are going to make it happen - but not until we pull our heads out of our butts and make changes in our personal lives.


...I'm off the soapbox now...