Ethanol as a fuel
October 10, 2007
My classmate, Boris, is blogging on ethanol at his site, It’s a Gas! In his most recent entry, he talks about the future of energy and whether ethanol is the way to go, and if corn is the best kind of ethanol. I’ve been hearing a lot of different forms of fuel, as everyone has lately, including Willie Nelson’s bio-fuel. But I’ve always wondered, if corn is used as a source of energy, then won’t the price of corn go up? Won’t the price of everything that is made with corn go up? For a lot of people who aren’t looking at it in an environmental perspective and are only looking for cheap fuel, would that be worth it to them? Corn is used in everything, from aluminum to whiskey. So if corn is used as the alternative fuel, will we end up paying for other everyday things like tortillas and salad dressings?
Also, if farmers start producing more corn, will they no longer farm other products, wanting to save the land for corn fields instead? Maybe there’s something I’m missing, but I’d like to know what they have thought of as a solution to my questions.
October 11, 2007 at 1:06 am
I’m thinking that maybe if they stopped putting corn syrup in many of the foods at the grocery, we’d have enough corn to make alternative fuels….
I know that sounds simplistic, but why not?
Great blogroll, interesting posts.
October 15, 2007 at 5:05 pm
Good question and that is one reason why North Carolina and other states are looking at other substances including switchgrass and biomass. Corn may not be the best solution since it generates, at best, 30 percent more energy than required to grow and process. Thanks for the blog entry!