While Ethanol is a important component of our efforts to reduce our dependency on
foreign energy sources, we must also consider the environmental impacts of using
Ethanol. According to this
site
, Ethanol produces 54% MORE CO2 per mile driven.
While such information seeks to evaluate the direct chemical processes involved
in the use of Ethanol versus Gasoline, it does not take into the account the
various activities involved in producing the fuels.
Never the less, there is significant information available about a facet of
Ethanol that is absolute Fact: Ethanol contains less energy per unit than Gasoline.
This means more Ethanol is used per mile driven than with Gasoline.
A nobel prize winning chemist has submitted a study which details how increased
bio-fuel producing crops may increase greenhouse emissions. The article can be
found
here.
There is also information about the health hazards of Ethanol. The BBC featured
an article earlier this year
(here)
which explores the potential for ethanol to be just as, and possibly, more
dangeorus to humans than gasoline.
Regardless of the energy or health aspects of Ethanol, an important fact remains
that doesn't receive much mention in the press or by Ethanol trade groups. It is
absolutely impossible to replace our current use of gasoline with Ethanol. Even
if every bushel of corn was converted to Ethanol, it would still provide less
than 25% of our gasoline usage. Not to mention that such an action would drive
up the value of food to such a price that virtually the entire population would
be unable to eat!