Colbert's Wørd discusses the magic of ethanol
Corn plus magic equals gasoline. That's how Stephen Colbert calculates the way ethanol is made. On the Colbert Report last night, the ethanol vs. biofuels debate that we just can't help but hear about everywhere we turn was the subject of The Wørd. The best way to experience this four-minute comedy bit is to hit the jump for the video, but if you're in a hurry, here's the short version: ethanol is the best way for us to feel like we're being green without sacrificing any of our creature comforts. Also, John McCain's crazy tax holiday idea gets skewered as well: "Never was so little asked of so many by so few." Oh, and I so wish I would have thought of the "corn on the Saab" line. Brilliant.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
stevejust 9:48PM (4/29/2008)
I loved everything about this except the false, demonstrably false it takes 129 gallons of gasoline to get 100 gallons of fuel.
Here's sort of a summary of this ROEI (return on energy invested) debate:
http://journeytoforever.org/ethanol_energy.html
Reply
Mark 3:45AM (5/01/2008)
I read the page you linked to, and it reviews about 5 different studies showing an EROEI (Energy returned on energy invested) of 34%-70%. This means you can use the energy from the ethanol, to harvest more ethanol, and you thus need no gasoline (after you have enough ethanol to complete a harvest).
I should note this is all for Corn based ethanol, and there are far better feedstocks for ethanol production, both with greater yields and higher EROEI.
Reply