[suijuris]

For the 1000th time. The economics of ethanol for fuel is debatable, but the corn used for ethanol is not corn fit for human consumption! I guarantee you would not eat it. It is used for cattle feed, high fructose corn syrup and other products. In fact the distilled grains by product from the distillation process is very beneficial as part of the food ration for cattle. Think more interms of more and better steaks, hamburger, etc.

Guess who continues to propagate the food for fuel hysteria? If you said the oil companies, you get the prize. And no, I am not promoting ethanol for combustion engines, but let's at least stick to the facts and not buy in to the hysreia.

[GeronL]

If you said the oil companies, you get the prize

and the corn lobby

[kaehurowing]

I am not engaging in the “food for fuel” argument. I am saying you should never depend on an unreliable source of energy, which is what ethanol is, since it is always susceptible of being destroyed by weather or pests.

It is even stupider when you start calculating the amount of reliable energy from other sources (petroleum products, hydro-electrics, etc.) that must be expended to grow this in the first place. That is, the energy needed to prepare the soil (presumably by tractors, etc.), fertilize, kill pests, harvest, etc. When you add that all up, it exceeds the energy benefit you get out of ethanol in the first place.

[FreedomPoster]

The economics of land use are not debatable. Land used for growing corn for bio ethanol cannot be used to grow food crops, thus driving up the cost of food crops. The govt shouldn’t be mandating ethanol use in fuels, which they do.