Subsidized & Mandated Corn Ethanol

I think this subisized and mandated corn ethanol fiasco in both America and Europe will cause the next global famine. If not a famine, then a wave of massive deforrestation.

These guys are insane. I don't think these politicians can be that stupid to think diverting that much cropland to making fuel won't cause people to starve.

I think they are mostly political *****s who want campaign contributions from the Ethanol industry.

I'll probably vote for McCain, and straight Liberatrian for all other offices, even though I've been a Democrat for all my life.

Did you see the floods they are having in the midwest? Ruining corn crops and causing corn futures to rise. There goes the prices of food that is corn based as well as ethanol.

I still dont see how going green means to take a good portion of our corn crops and use it to produce a minor amount of fuel that a minor amount of americans use in their cars. Not to mention that it takes more energy to produce ethanol then using ethanol in a car would save. Seems arse-backwards to me.

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Originally Posted by capsulecorpjx

I'll probably vote for McCain, and straight Liberatrian for all other offices, even though I've been a Democrat for all my life.

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Is there anywhere in this country with a straight libertarian ticket?

The only thing green about corn-based ethanol is the money pouring into the pockets of the farmers.

I don't know enough about corn based-ethanol to decide if its good or not. I thought it used a by-product that would otherwise be wasted? No? And I'm told the blend we get in Oz isn't very healthy for your motor either. We have 5% or 10% ethanol blended (don't quote me) with our regular petrol. We're feed stuff about how it helps the environment by reducing demand on oil, re-using a wasted by-product and helping our cash-strapped farmers in the process.

I'd by it if our (independant) motoring authority okay'd its use (ie won't harm the engine).

Bio-fuels are usually green yes but the amount of energy needed to grow, harvest and produce it is not beneficial which is why they havent taken of as a popular fuel.

Corn based fuels are taking away corn that was grown for food. Oh and then we also export alot of corn too but we ship out too much and reserve to much for biofules that pushes prices up on corn.

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Originally Posted by Foxer

And I'm told the blend we get in Oz isn't very healthy for your motor either.

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It's perfectly healthy. However, if you switch a car from petrol to ethanol, you are likely to dislodge deposits on your fuel lines and clog your filters. This is the main complaint of motorists who have unwittingly been running blends of up to 20% and why the RAA pursued the issue of labeling ethanol blends at the pump some years back.

Ethanol is great from a running emissions perspective. It actually has a RON equivalent higher than premium unleaded, which makes it ideal for performance engines. It is less great when you consider that it's less efficient, burns hotter so requires an auxilary starting system in cold climates, and costs a lot in money and resources to produce.