Ethanol promoters say ethanol is one "realistic solution" to high oil prices
Even though this week's $100-a-barrel oil prices were a bit of a false alarm, expensive oil is not a joke. In response to the record rate, the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC) released a statement that calls ethanol one of the "realistic solutions to our dependence on a dwindling supply of energy" and says that "he ethanol industry will rise to the challenge and continue to provide a renewable, efficient, economy boosting product for Americans. Without ethanol, the cost of our oil addiction is far too great."This is all nice and good, but saying that the cost of being addicted to oil if a huge burden is not the same as delivering us from it. And that sort of deliverance is not something that ethanol alone can bring. Sure, EPIC is careful to place the biofuel in league with other oil alternatives, but a lot more needs to be done than just putting our eggs in the corn basket.
[Source: Robert White, Interim Executive Director, Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC)]
Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC) Responds to Record Oil Prices
OMAHA, Neb., Jan. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- While ethanol detractors continue to spend millions mounting a smear campaign against alternative fuels, consumers bear the brunt of the economic pain as oil prices trade above the $100.00 a barrel mark.
Record oil prices translate into record profits for the petroleum industry. The impact upon the economy is being felt in many business sectors. Motorists struggle with gas prices that are 85 cents higher a gallon than a year ago, and record heating oil prices present tough choices for many homeowners. Family budgets are stretched thin. American consumers continue to be powerless as they endure rising energy costs and frequent supply shortages.
America's foreign oil bill continues to climb, to a record total of nearly one billion dollars a day, and oil from the Middle East accounts for approximately 17 percent of U.S. oil imports. This business as usual approach is a failure.
The American public is looking for realistic solutions to our dependence on a dwindling supply of energy of which ethanol plays an important role. Once again, the ethanol industry will rise to the challenge and continue to provide a renewable, efficient, economy boosting product for Americans. Without ethanol, the cost of our oil addiction is far too great.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
rick 2:56PM (1/04/2008)
you know sebastion, it's guys like you that would tank the entire economy just to see you own little vision play out. corn ethanol IS a growing way to stretch out the fuel supply. cellulosic will be too, but the technology is just starting up. batteries will put a nail in the oil coffin one day, WHEN THEY'RE READY. and that will be in just a few more years, but do you have any clue how many people you would throw out of work if you could have your way?
enough of the editorialising & political steering. you're not qualified.
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jcwinnie 3:37PM (1/04/2008)
Just don't day anything about his dog, rick.
Personally, I believe he is Spot on. I find myself clanging my sword on my shield and shouting "Down with the Blend Wall" and "9 in 2009", even when I have similar reservations about corn to ethanol.
Another COB (Cruise On Booze) Doubter is Joe Romm and he recently said nice things about Seb's dog applying the heat from biomass fired CHP to fermentation, thus improving the EROEI for corn to ethanol plus lowering emissions.
Meanwhile, as the Earth Policy Institute anticipated, corn prices are at a recent all time high. It certainly would be good to see the proof in the cellulosic pudding.
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eckre 3:57PM (1/04/2008)
Oh and biodiesel isn't? Isn't the true cost of E fuel about $5-$6 a gallon, less mileage and such? Consumer Reports did a story on it.
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rick 4:26PM (1/04/2008)
jc,
i quit reading your blog because of your cutsie politics, btw.
for the other posters & sebastian there's way more to the ethanol story than corn. read this report from MIT that states we can have ethanol for under $1/gal from garbage:
http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/18084/
then google Range Fuels
then, re food prices? you guys need to take some basic economics. corn is a one-crop/year product. this year, corn acreage went up bigtime....but only to WWII levels. wait until next year and the year after. globally, there will be huge new acreages go into production, putting money into farmers and the economy and ultimately lowering the price of corn.
the law of supply and demand is as constatn as the law of gravity as long as you keep the government out of the equation.
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Bill 4:56PM (1/04/2008)
Ethanol is and continues to be a great fuel additive (especially as it replaces the poisonous MTBE), but not as a fuel.
Good luck finding a company who will tell you what their cellulosic ethanol costs to make - they'll be asking for more subsidies than corn ethanol producers.
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Mort 4:56PM (1/04/2008)
Recycled deep fryer grease is not very energy intensive to make. Ethanol from garbage which is processed using wind or solar is fine. Corn ethanol is idiotic to the nth degree. You might as well use the natural gas directly for a transportation fuel.
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jcwinnie 7:42PM (1/04/2008)
Well, I think that there is one thing that rick and I agree on, other than I'm cute, and that is we should be combusting ethanol blends in our Otto Mobiles.
Ethanol from corn is a start, and possibly from gasification of waste in the future. Even though, as Seb already alluded, it is impossible to fuel the U.S. transportation sector with ethanol.
Speaking of economics, David Rotman, also writing for MIT's Technology Review is of the opinion that the biggest problem with corn ethanol is economics. The EROEI (Energy Return On Energy Invested) is not very good. According to the Agriculture Department, the EROEI of corn-based ethanol is a mere 1.34-to-1, compared to gasoline’s EROEI, which says Cutler Cleveland, director of the Center for Energy and Environmental Studies at Boston University, ranges between 6-to-1 and 10-to-1.
Still, economics is only part of the story. Ethanol blends will result in a decrease in CO2 emissions; otherwise, they should be off the table. Corn ethanol seems to be a bad unsustainable idea which is only alive thanks to very generous government subsidies in America, which are estimated to be around a mind-boggling $1/gallon.The survival of ethanol from corn is almost exclusively due to the political power of the farming lobby, and other special interest groups in America who ensure all the generous subsidies.
Huge new acreages going into production is piling on the stupid because such cultivation is petroleum intensive. I am in favor of ethanol blends because it represents a small shift away from the dominance of Big Oil. Not much, mind you, because Big Oil controls the blending and distribution. It still represents a shift and a loss in market share by the oil companies, which is why it is being resisted.
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Mike 9:55PM (1/04/2008)
http://i-r-squared.blogspot.com/2007/08/ethanolalternative-fuel-faq.html
A very good explaination of various issues related to ethanol.
The short answer is that it simply isn't scalable in it's current form.
Fundamentally, if we are peaking in oil production, then we are in for a world of hurt. If we aren't, then we need to address the structural risks that put our economy in danger:
- Too many miles driven
- Too many miles driven alone (no carpooling / public transportation)
- Too many miles driven in very large cars with poor gas mileage.
To dig our way out of this we need:
- Reduce miles driven per person (mandatory carpooling, increasing gas taxes for residential travel, etc)
- Invest in the ultimate electrification of our transportation infrastructure.
- Hybrid / electric cars
- Electric production to support it.
- Change building codes to discourage sprawl.
In short, American's have to grow up and realize that driving 15000 miles per year in an SUV isn't a god given right.
There are real solutions for residential travel (commuting to work, shopping, entertainment). But such solutions don't yet exist for industrial transportation needs (trucking, agriculture, etc).
In a peaking oil production environment, ever gallon of gas you use to go shopping at the mall, is a gallon that can't be used to grow food, or ship goods, or keep the economy going.
Mike
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jcwinnie 10:10PM (1/04/2008)
@ Seb's dog, because he likes Pimentel dog food...
"Money and economics are among the most talked about and least understood facets of human civilization. Just as most people speak without giving a lot of thought to what they say, most of us open our wallets in the same way." Paul Hawken
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Paul 3:11PM (1/05/2008)
Mike:
Mandatory Carpooling? Changing building and zoning to discourage sprawl?
Never in a million years would I support this type of garbage and I'll work to make sure nobody that supports these sorts of things gets elected.
We should make sure the market produces decent alternatives that allow people some relief from high oil prices, though I'm skeptical that ethanol is going to be something that makes the cut long term. The current subsidies are probably much better spent on more viable alternatives than corn ethanol.
Personally, I have zero interest in taking public transportation and despise the density and hassles that cities give us. People underestimate the quality of life improvement when you have room to spread out and space to raise your family.
I don't want to wind up like Europe.
I want to keep my SUV but I'm interested in ways to reduce the cost of operating it. Thats why I'm here.
We shouldn't try to swim upstream on this. People don't want to spend money on carpool lanes and public transportation. They don't want to carpool. Trust me, we just voted this stuff down last Nov here in Seattle.
We should all get behind letting people do what they wish but at a lower and more predictable cost than they do with gasoline.
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cowboy bob 6:50AM (1/07/2008)
Plug in's. The only answer to the problem. Period.
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