Something to Think About

As we in Montana wait for the Government mandate forcing us to use ethanol in our gas, I found this interesting.<br />n<br />n<a href="http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/node/8353">Ethanol, biodiesel from crops not worth the energy</a><br />n<br />n<blockquote>Turning plants such as corn, soybeans and sunflowers into fuel uses much more energy than the resulting ethanol or biodiesel generates, according to a new Cornell University and University of California-Berkeley study.<br />n<br />n"There is just no energy benefit to using plant biomass for liquid fuel," says David Pimentel, professor of ecology and agriculture at Cornell. "These strategies are not sustainable." <br />n<br />n"The United State desperately needs a liquid fuel replacement for oil in the near future," says Pimentel, "but producing ethanol or biodiesel from plant biomass is going down the wrong road, because you use more energy to produce these fuels than you get out from the combustion of these products."<br />n<br />nAlthough Pimentel advocates the use of burning biomass to produce thermal energy (to heat homes, for example), he deplores the use of biomass for liquid fuel. "The government spends more than $3 billion a year to subsidize ethanol production when it does not provide a net energy balance or gain, is not a renewable energy source or an economical fuel. Further, its production and use contribute to air, water and soil pollution and global warming," Pimentel says. He points out that the vast majority of the subsidies do not go to farmers but to large ethanol-producing corporations.<br />n<br />n"Ethanol production in the United States does not benefit the nation's energy security, its agriculture, economy or the environment," says Pimentel. "Ethanol production requires large fossil energy input, and therefore, it is contributing to oil and natural gas imports and U.S. deficits."</blockquote><br />n<br />nSo, requiring us in Montana to use ethanol increases Americas dependence on foreign oil. Doesn't sound like a very smart plan to me. Something to think about.<br />n<br />n<b>Some mistake had been made<br />nNo book can explain,<br />nSome change in the law<br />nThat nobody saw<br />nExcept as a gain.<br />n<br />nRobert Frost</b>