Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumOil industry launches full-scale assault on ethanol, says it's "worse than tar sands"
Are they implying tar sands are somehow...bad?Broad coalition working against ethanol, says it's "worse than tar sands"
"Another round of fighting has started over whether E15 a blend of ethanol (15 percent) and gasoline (85 percent) should be adopted nationwide. The latest jab comes from Scott Faber, a lobbyist for Environmental Working Group, who says that, as far as greenhouse gasses go, ethanol is "worse than Canadian tar sands."
Ethanol has destroyed more wetlands and grassland in the last four years than were wrecked in the last 40, as far as greenhouse gas emissions go, Faber says. That argument touches a nerve, since about 40 percent of the US corn crop goes to ethanol and an ongoing Midwest drought has contributed to high corn prices. The price spike has been encouraging farmers to plow marginal virgin land, releasing stored carbon into the atmosphere. Fertilizer and pesticides used for corn get washed into rivers.
The anti-E15 coalition is getting pretty big. Oil industry, environmentalists, taxpayer groups, livestock owners and foreign aid groups want to see Congress repeal the 15-percent ethanol blend mandate. Ethanol industry groups like the Renewable Fuels Association have been leading the counter attack, and so far the US Environmental Protection Agency is not backing down."
http://green.autoblog.com/2013/02/07/broad-coalition-working-against-ethanol-says-its-worse-than-t/
robinlynne
(15,481 posts)green.
wtmusic
(39,166 posts)so ethanol yields are higher than for most other crops.
Unknown Beatle
(2,672 posts)for example. Easy to grow and there could be an abundance of it if it wasn't classified schedule 1. Ridiculous, isn't it?
AndyA
(16,993 posts)Might cut down on road rage.
think
(11,641 posts)and preparing to lay a pipeline through the heart of farm country over one of the largest aquifers on the planet; these corporate oil magnates decide to start a another fight with farmers over who is dirtier.
Epic fail big oil. Epic fail.......
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-28/transcanada-s-keystone-wins-right-to-take-pipeline-land.html
Demeter
(85,373 posts)happyslug
(14,779 posts)Most cars today can use 15% alcohol for the simple reason with modern microprocessors it is possible to adjust the fuel air combination based on how the fuel is burning WITHOUT any input from the driver (The microprocessors does it automatically unlike old fashioned carburetors that had to be adjusted manually when you switched fuels).
The only real restriction is many cars still use hose lines that can NOT take 100% Alcohol (Through this is changing due to the increase number of cars that can use 100% Alcohol). Alcohol increase rust and other problems related to water in the lines, but again, most of these concerns were addressed over the last 10-20 years as more and more areas used Alcohol instead of MTBE to enhance combustion and reduce summer time air pollution. Car makers had to adjust to this fact, and did so by upgrading their fuel lines and the rest of the engine to handle the increase level of water in the system when Alcohol is involved, not a problem with MODERN cars (Cars made since the 1990s for example).