Mandates?
Yes, they’re weaning brazil off of terror-dollars spent with OPEC.
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“Yet countries wanting to follow Brazil’s example may be leery about following its methods. Military and civilian leaders laid the groundwork by mandating ethanol use and dictating production levels. They bankrolled technology projects costing billions of dollars, despite criticism they were wasting money. Brazil ended most government support for its sugar industry in the late 1990s, forcing sugar producers to become more efficient and helping lower the cost of ethanol’s raw material. That’s something Western countries are loath to do, preferring to support domestic farmers.
With government support, sugar companies and auto makers’ local units delivered cost-saving breakthroughs. “Flexible fuel” cars running ethanol, gasoline or a mixture of both, have become a hit. Car buyers no longer have to worry about fluctuating prices for either fuel because flex-fuel cars allow them to hedge their bets at the pump. Seven out of every 10 new cars sold in Brazil are flex-fuel.”
Corn ethanol is not a good long range solution, but should help in the short run. I think I will see cellulosic in my lifetime and I am 69. Lots of people are working on it and the government has pledged over 300 million dollars to 6 experimental projects scattered throughout the country using everything from orange juice wastes in Florida to wood chips in our nothern states.
Secondly, why can’t the auto manufacturers produce cars that get far higher miles per gallon? There seems to be a significant drop in purchase of gas hogs like SUVs and RVs, so perhaps they will get the message. It will be interesting to see how the new Fortwo (sp?) auto set to debut in January is accepted and purchased.
Third, I was surprised to discover the the building sector uses a lot more energy than the transportation sector, so what is Congress doing to promote superinsulation in their energy bills? If people are going to get tax rebates for buying special windows, solar panels, and hybrid cars, they should get similar benefits for increasing insulation in attics and in new construction.