enthalpy

Monday, April 07, 2008


I hate it when I agree with The New York Times.
This is especially true of corn ethanol: even on optimistic estimates, producing a gallon of ethanol from corn uses most of the energy the gallon contains. But it turns out that even seemingly “good” biofuel policies, like Brazil’s use of ethanol from sugar cane, accelerate the pace of climate change by promoting deforestation.

And meanwhile, land used to grow biofuel feedstock is land not available to grow food, so subsidies to biofuels are a major factor in the food crisis. You might put it this way: people are starving in Africa so that American politicians can court votes in farm states.
Well, not exactly, but it does take more energy to make ethanol than it produces, not to mention you have to burn more of it in your car because it has a lower energy density. So it uses more energy than it creates, and it pollutes more than gasoline does. Since no one is going to listen to the science, I have no problem with Paul Krugman linking it to starving babies.



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