[canuck]

What continually amazes me is how so many people think (or just misunderstand) Ethanol is a fuel, when its value is in it being nothing more than a fuel ADDITIVE that serves to reduce tailpipe emissions. <br /> <br /> There are recent proposals for Ethanol production to begin in Canada (if it hasn't already...). This is good because not only will we no longer have no option but to import from the US, but it also serves to aid struggling Canadian farmers by adding value to their crops which may not be of food quality.

[KevinGagnon]

[QUOTE]What continually amazes me is how so many people think (or just misunderstand) Ethanol is a fuel, when its value is in it being nothing more than a fuel ADDITIVE that serves to reduce tailpipe emissions.-Canuck[/QUOTE] <br /> <br /> I agree. I had a conversation with the owner of a gas station here about ethanol. He tell's me that there is many different benefits to the "Fuel Additive" ethanol. I don't remember them all. But one being fuel efficiency. And it helps fuel that may have water in it. Hence water in fuel won't cause any problems associated to water in fuel. For those who live in cold winter areas, will like that benefit.<br /> <br /> Kevin<br /> <br />

[Milton]

Did you guys not understand that it takes more fuel to make ethanol than the fuel that is derived from it?

[Brother Jonathan]

[QUOTE by FootPrints]</b> But researchers at Cornell University and the University of California-Berkeley say it…takes 27 percent more [fossil] energy to turn soybeans into biodiesel fuel and more than double the energy produced is needed to do the same to sunflower plants, the study found.<b>[/QUOTE]<br /> I wonder what size(s) of farm the researchers drew their fossil energy consumption usage from? (And how would Amish or Mennonite farming methods compare on that score?)<br /> <br /> The energy input comparison for biodiesel is interesting, since the typical yield of oil per hectare of sunflowers is twice that of a hectare of soybeans. (The yield from a hectare of castor beans is thrice that of soybeans; I wonder how it compares on the energy input side? Castor oil’s lower “iodine value” [which is a test result, not a content] would also require less processing than either soybean oil or sunflower oil.)

[eugene]

And the biggest beneficiary of farm subsidies in the US for ethanol prouduction is Archer Daniels Midland whose connection with Canada is former PM Brian Mulroney. See my blog article<a href="http://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2005/07/ethanol-scam-adm-and-brian-mulroney.html">The Ethanol Scam: ADM and Brian Mulroney</a><br />

[Milton]

You have some great articles on your blog eugene. I haven't read them all as yet, but I will. Great first post.<br /> <br /> If you want cleaner emissions, change the fuel you are burning to hydrogen which is produced by splitting water with an electric current generated by wind power. Or drive an electric vehicle and recharge it with wind generated electricity.<br /> <br /> No, you can't do that by tomorrow but if we don't do it before we run out of fossil fuels we won't do it at all. Farming uses fertilizer which is heavily dependant on fossil fuels for its production. When fertilizers are continually used on farms the symbiotic relationships between the plants and the little critters, (like nitrogen fixing bacteria), are broken. The plants get what they need from the fertilizer and have no need to engage in trade with the little critters and therefore do not produce what they need and the little critters die. Then you have junky soil. it won't grow anything unless it gets its fix. <br /> <br /> If you want to decrease dirty omissions, open up the corporate vaults and haul out the designs for frictionless engines and other energy usage reduction technology.

[Spud]

Interesting.I have read a lot of these studies and they all contradict each other.Here is a link some might find interesting.<br /> http://www.globalhemp.com/Archives/Essays/Biofuel/fuel.shtml?rd=16&vo=16