Brazilians are using ethanol made from sugar:
Three decades after the first oil shock rocked its economy, Brazil has nearly shaken its dependence on foreign oil. More vulnerable than even the United States when the 1973 Middle East oil embargo sent gas prices spiraling soaring, Brazil vowed to kick its import habit. Now the country that once relied on outsiders to supply 80 percent of its crude is projected to be self-sufficient within a few years.
Why doesn't the US become self-sufficient by producing more ethanol. There are some very good reasons according to Cornell's David Pimentell:
At a time when ethanol-gasoline mixtures (gasohol) are touted as the American answer to fossil fuel shortages by corn producers, food processors and some lawmakers, Cornell's David Pimentel takes a longer range view.
"Abusing our precious croplands to grow corn for an energy-inefficient process that yields low-grade automobile fuel amounts to unsustainable, subsidized food burning," says the Cornell professor in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Pimentel, who chaired a U.S. Department of Energy panel that investigated the energetics, economics and environmental aspects of ethanol production several years ago, subsequently conducted a detailed analysis of the corn-to-car fuel process. His findings will be published in September, 2001 in the forthcoming Encyclopedia of Physical Sciences and Technology .
Among his findings are:
o An acre of U.S. corn yields about 7,110 pounds of corn for processing into 328 gallons of ethanol. But planting, growing and harvesting that much corn requires about 140 gallons of fossil fuels and costs $347 per acre, according to Pimentel's analysis. Thus, even before corn is converted to ethanol, the feedstock costs $1.05 per gallon of ethanol.
o The energy economics get worse at the processing plants, where the grain is crushed and fermented. As many as three distillation steps are needed to separate the 8 percent ethanol from the 92 percent water. Additional treatment and energy are required to produce the 99.8 percent pure ethanol for mixing with gasoline. o Adding up the energy costs of corn production and its conversion to ethanol, 131,000 BTUs are needed to make 1 gallon of ethanol. One gallon of ethanol has an energy value of only 77,000 BTU. "Put another way," Pimentel says, "about 70 percent more energy is required to produce ethanol than the energy that actually is in ethanol. Every time you make 1 gallon of ethanol, there is a net energy loss of 54,000 BTU."
o Ethanol from corn costs about $1.74 per gallon to produce, compared with about 95 cents to produce a gallon of gasoline. "That helps explain why fossil fuels -- not ethanol -- are used to produce ethanol," Pimentel says. "The growers and processors can't afford to burn ethanol to make ethanol. U.S. drivers couldn't afford it, either, if it weren't for government subsidies to artificially lower the price."
If it were to our own choosing, we wouldn't be using much ethanol at all because it is more costly to use than the gasoline made from the crude oil we import. But here in Minnesota, there aren't just government subsidies. There are government mandates.
Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty signed into law on May 10th a bill that will double the amount of ethanol used in gasoline throughout the state. Currently, Minnesota law requires all gasoline sold within the state to include 10 percent ethanol. Under the new legislation, all gasoline sold within the state would have to include 20 percent ethanol by 2013. However, the new ethanol mandate will not take effect if ethanol has already replaced 20 percent of the state's motor vehicle fuel by 2010. See the governor's press release and the full text of the bill, Senate File Number 4.
Ethanol is one of those products that is so danged good that its use must be mandated and its production must be subsidized. Those are two things that, when they happen, tell you that the product ain't all it's cracked up to be.
HT to John Palmer**** for the ethanol link.
****Addendum. John is available to be your graduation speaker.