Ethanol plants have been erected in the midwest and have been promoted heavily through Federal subsidies. Is ethanol biofuel a significant contender in alternative energy?
In our nation’s quest for energy independence ethanol is being proposed as an vital component, that is a tough argument though.
Common sense is common sense, why are we using farm lands to make fuel for automobiles? There is still plenty of oil in the Earth, and plenty of room for improvements in efficiency and renewable energy technologies.
Ethanol biofuel, through increased competition in the grains market, has been driving up prices of foods. Farmers should make excellent money, there is no doubt about that. Fundamental food production capacity is competing in the gasoline market which brings up a excellent argument.
Another disadvantage of ethanol biofuel is the lower amount of combustive energy. It’s energy density is only 60% of gasoline (HHV = 12,700 BTU/lb vs. 20,500 BTU/lb), and so pound for pound doesn’t deliver the same amount of useful energy.
You could anticipate ethanol being used for home heating and hot water but currently it is being marketed as a replacement fuel for automobiles.
Maybe the final blow against ethanol biofuel is that, unlike solar power, wind power, and other alternative energy systems, it is not tapping a source of free energy (unless it is derived from agricultural waste). When one considers the energy consumed in the planting, harvesting, processing, and refining of the grains then ethanol is really quite expensive as a fuel. It has nearly half the energy of diesel or gasoline, and similar amounts of production costs.
In total, ethanol production as practiced today is not as valuable of an alternative energy as some would have us believe. Using agricultural waste to generate ethanol, on the other hand, has a lot of potential in years to come. It falls into a broad definition of alternative energy but currently ethanol is not tapping a free energy source like some alternatives do.
To learn more about ethanol biofuel you can get more info and a free report at this solar energy website.
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