Professor decries use of ethanol in gasoline

Ithaca Journal ^ | Saturday, August 2, 2003 | By JESSICA KELTZ

[Behind Liberal Lines]

ITHACA -- A Cornell University professor has published a study he says cements his assertion that ethanol is a less efficient, more environmentally harmful fuel than gasoline.

David Pimentel, an emeritus professor of ecology, has been studying ethanol for about 25 years, leading a Department of Energy study on the subject in 1980. Ethanol is a corn byproduct that is combined with gasoline to make gasohol, a gasoline substitute that proponents claim lowers pollution and eases demand for foreign oil.

Because corn production uses more pesticides than any other field crop, and because millions of dollars in government subsidies are required to make the fuel profitable, he says it's inefficient, expensive and harmful to the environment.

"It takes more energy to produce a gallon of ethanol than you get out of it," Pimentel said. "The reason they're producing it is taxpayer money has been increasing. This is what makes it profitable."

Pimentel said he looks into the issue periodically because subsidy levels and technology change. This time he found that gasohol costs more and gets less miles per gallon. He said $1.4 billion in taxpayer subsidies support the fuel and food prices go up because corn used to feed cattle costs more as an result.

[sam_paine]

"Subsidies make it profitable." Just like Solar.

[blackdog]

While I appreciate the fine professor's epiphany, just why it took him 25+ years to study ethanol production and come to that conclusion is a real testimony to his world.

I will say it again, gas needs to be at $3.00 plus per gallon to even make ethanol break even. I'm sure Mr.Daschle and Mr.Kennedy would see the solution to that problem would be to raise gas to $5.00 per gallon.

[Libertarianize the GOP]

http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/bump-list

[Tijeras_Slim]

Why should I listen to a Cornell professor named after those things in the middle of an olive? :)

[Poincare]

If the ethanol corn growing land were allowed to return to grassland or pasture the soil would sink more carbon (greenhouse gases) than is released by the petroleum that the ethanol replaces.

[goldstategop]

Why don't liberals use sh*t as a fuel? Its the ultimate biodegradeable recycleable.

[Tijeras_Slim]

And they're so full of it, they're literally sitting on a gold mine.

[putupon]

I always heard that ethanol in gasoline produces moisture which becomes entraped inside the engine therefore causing internal rust on ferrous metal parts and also reacted with with various gasket materials causing shortening of their life span.

[blackdog]

Some bad news from your cornaholics.

[SSN558]

The thing that makes ethanol more damaging to the environment is the mixing of it with gasoline. It is not practical to design an engine to run efficiently on a mixture of fuels that both have different combustion temperatures. Doh !

Of course this was never obvious to the bureaucratic deep thinkers at the EPA. Add to that hundreds of lobbists lining the pockets of corn belt congress critters and you have another environmental solution made in hell.

The good news is that mixing ethanol with gasoline is not as damaging to peoples health and the environment as the MTBE fisasco. Another greenie solution that caused irrepairable harm to the water supply.

Ethanol used by itself in engines designed for it is quite friendly to the environment, and mass production processses for it could make it a cost effective fuel.

[Darksheare]

And this guy thinks that if it's not profitable, it'll be better?
What's his deal?

[stylin19a]

25 years ? I had this picture in my mind of this perfessor, after tearing his hair out, finally throwing up his hands, clicks on www.freerepublic.com, does a search of the archives and comes to the conclusion, based on fact, that freepers had come to, years before.

[nightdriver]

"The big thing is to pull the subsidies. That would solve all our problems," he said. "I'd like to see the subsidies pulled for all fuel production, but especially for ethanol production."

Yes, but I don't trust the gubmint to act wisely on this. If they allow drilling for oil on a certain piece of land, the liberal mind thinks that it constitutes a "subsidy." So if they pull all "subsidies," we're going to be out of fuel soon.

[RicocheT]

"Why don't liberals use sh*t as a fuel? Its the ultimate biodegradeable recycleable."

Sounds like a job for this company:

http://www.changingworldtech.com/home.html

[Boss_Jim_Gettys]

"It is not practical to design an engine to run efficiently on a mixture of fuels that both have different combustion temperatures."

Gasoline is a mixture of fuels with different combustion temperatures.

[KC_for_Freedom]

Nevertheless, working for a market solution to energy problems should be a goal. Unfortunately, enough energy for the country seems to require some government intervention. Nuclear needs a safe place to store spent fuel, hydro converts rivers to reservoirs, coal is now on federal land, oil is protected in a postage stamp portion of the tundra.

I think the solution is to pump Iraq oil now, (and defend the pipelines with technology). Eventually, fuel may rise to the level that makes ethanol more profitable, until then, I raise my glass of ethanol...

[Boss_Jim_Gettys]

"... mass production processses for it (ethanol) could make it a cost effective fuel."

No mass production scheme for ethanol will result in a more cost-effective fuel than pulling a barrel of oil out of the ground and running it through a modern refinery.

[o_zarkman44]

I don't mind the small subsidy to American corn farmers. Compared to the hundreds of Billions of Dollars America has spend in military subsidy to protect and defend Middle Eastern oil fields, domestic energy production is a bargain and will continue to be a bargain.
And is this professor not including in his equation how much subsidy oil companys have and are recieving?
So my conclusion of this study is this professor is Pro imported Oil, and anti-American farmer. ahem.

[07055]

How much energy does it take to produce a gallon of ethanol? Where does that energy come from? If the price of that energy source went up, wouldn't the price of ethenol need to increase also?