We have documented that Ethanol can be a valuable additive for automotive fuel, for a couple of reasons.We have also documented that it can be manufactured from coal more cheaply than it can be fermented and distilled from agricultural produce.And, we have made the argument that, given the world's myriad social problems, arable land and the food crops that can be grown upon it should be devoted to feeding mankind, rather than to powering the automobiles of the relatively privileged, relatively few.Proponents of agricultural Ethanol argue that is a "green" fuel which recycles greenhouse gas.Not necessarily, as you might know if you recall your early experiments in the art of home brewing.In addition to causing the secondary generation of greenhouse gas, through creating power generation demands for processing and distilling, Ethanol manufacture through the process of fermentation itself produces significant quantities of Carbon Dioxide.It produces so much CO2, in fact, that Ethanol producers are being faced with the same problems as our coal-fired power plants, as the following excerpt from the enclosed kink, regarding a corn-based Ohio project, attests:"GREENVILLE — A proposed $92.8 million carbon sequestration project in Darke County has been abandoned “due to business considerations,” according to the controversial project’s lead partner.The project had drawn growing opposition from the Darke County community in recent weeks, including from local officials and state Reps. Jim Zehringer (R-Fort Recovery) and Richard Adams (R-Troy), county representatives who both said there were too many unanswered questions surrounding the injection of carbon dioxide from an ethanol plant underground.
Opponents said they feared an impact on property values and potential seismic activity from injecting the carbon dioxide underground, among other concerns.
The Andersons Marathon Ethanol LLC, Ohio’s largest ethanol plant, generates annually more than 250,000 tons of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas thought to contribute to climate change. Virtually all of it would have been injected underground if a porous rock layer filled with saltwater far beneath the ethanol plant had been deemed suitable."
That's a bunch of CO2, ain't it? All from corn. And, keep in mind: Moreafter a no-doubt prodigious amount of CO2 was generated by all the farm machinery that cultivated and harvested the crop. CO2 would be produced and emitted when those environmentally-responsible corn squeezins get combusted in our cars' engines. And, that's all
Ethanol is a useful, and even somewhat beneficial, fuel. When used as a gasoline additive, it seems to help engine performance and it reduces the production of pollutants, aside from CO2.
If we do want to use Ethanol as an adjunct automotive fuel to improve exhaust emissions, we can make it more cheaply, and more cleanly, from coal. And, in doing so, we can stop the waste of food crops that would see far better service in helping to feed the world.
