Price of gas
This is an issue near to my heart because of the amount of time Rocky and I spend together. Sure, she's a refined lady who knows not to guzzle greedily the good gas she grows on, but all of those miles aren't free. There is some cost and while Rockette is a deserving lady, she is certainly not nearly deserving as myself. I think it will be some time before this country divorces itself from gasoline entirely, certainly Rocky never will, but the sooner it does the better, and I'd add that it should be going about it properly not in the money grabbing way it is now.
Corn based ethanol is all the rage in these United States, already the most heavily subsidized crop, it enjoys special status now as the potential savior of America's fuel dependence. Some facts that I won't bother providing references for, because if you haven't learned yet to take me at my word, its time you grew accustomed.
The actual fuel cost is extremely important. People don't necessarily appreciate that a major component of the cost of gasoline is the fuel cost of fetching and processing it. By all accounts the energy ratio is about 1:5. In other words it takes about a gallon of gas worth of energy to process and deliver 5 gallons of gas to you, and more importantly, me.
Does anyone know what the energy cost of corn based ethanol is? Its just awful, really. Some actually report it as a net loser, but likely that is not quite correct. The consensus estimate is 1:1.3, that it takes about a gallon of corn based ethanol to process and deliver 1.3 gallons of ethanol. Can anyone see how this is not the sort of improvement we should be hoping for? That all the effort and expenditure is hardly worth that tiny 30% worth of production. And what really gets me is that our entire food industry is based on corn, so while we're merrily swapping gasoline for ethanol and patting each other on the back for making a meager dent in our oil consumption we are grimacingly forcing everyone to pay increasingly exorbitant prices for nearly every type of food we hold dear.
Meanwhile there is an alternative. There is a fuel that has a 1:8 ratio of energy required to output, and it is a biofuel. Its sugarcane based ehtanol. One might think that with the skyrocketing price of corn and everything that feeds on it, sugarcane based ethanol might be able to find equivalent subsidies, especially when a state that needs the money so badly is the perfect place to produce that sugarcane. Brazil has recently achieved self sufficiency in oil with its own domestic supply and huge sugarcane based ethanol industry. Of course, that ethanol is heavily tarriffed here.
This country's government wouldn't want to do anything that makes any sense after all.
Corn based ethanol is all the rage in these United States, already the most heavily subsidized crop, it enjoys special status now as the potential savior of America's fuel dependence. Some facts that I won't bother providing references for, because if you haven't learned yet to take me at my word, its time you grew accustomed.
The actual fuel cost is extremely important. People don't necessarily appreciate that a major component of the cost of gasoline is the fuel cost of fetching and processing it. By all accounts the energy ratio is about 1:5. In other words it takes about a gallon of gas worth of energy to process and deliver 5 gallons of gas to you, and more importantly, me.
Does anyone know what the energy cost of corn based ethanol is? Its just awful, really. Some actually report it as a net loser, but likely that is not quite correct. The consensus estimate is 1:1.3, that it takes about a gallon of corn based ethanol to process and deliver 1.3 gallons of ethanol. Can anyone see how this is not the sort of improvement we should be hoping for? That all the effort and expenditure is hardly worth that tiny 30% worth of production. And what really gets me is that our entire food industry is based on corn, so while we're merrily swapping gasoline for ethanol and patting each other on the back for making a meager dent in our oil consumption we are grimacingly forcing everyone to pay increasingly exorbitant prices for nearly every type of food we hold dear.
Meanwhile there is an alternative. There is a fuel that has a 1:8 ratio of energy required to output, and it is a biofuel. Its sugarcane based ehtanol. One might think that with the skyrocketing price of corn and everything that feeds on it, sugarcane based ethanol might be able to find equivalent subsidies, especially when a state that needs the money so badly is the perfect place to produce that sugarcane. Brazil has recently achieved self sufficiency in oil with its own domestic supply and huge sugarcane based ethanol industry. Of course, that ethanol is heavily tarriffed here.
This country's government wouldn't want to do anything that makes any sense after all.
3 Comments:
Don't forget about the crappier gas mileage cars get when using ethanol... Electric cars seem to be the way to go, but I'll continue with my V8's for the time being, thank you very much.
The energy density, although a contributor to ethanol's inefficiency, since it must be transported by truck, is not a chief concern. Finding a preferably renewable energy source that eases our dependence on volatile regions of the world, is. I think Erin is arguing that we should be making sure that when we are counting the cost, we are doing so properly.
Can you tell that i'm reviewing the Cost Accounting portion of my Accounting notes?
Post a Comment
<< Home