Sorry, a-Musings readers, for not posting on the last 2 days. I was wanting to play a few online games instead! Anyway, here's my first topic, ethanol.
Ethanol, the biofuel made from corn (in the US, in other countries they also use sugarcane) and petroleum, is better for our earth than gasoline/petrol. However, is it better than other alternatives? I think not! For starters, ethanol (or at least E85) still has gasoline in it. Also, ethanol made from corn is skyrocketing prices of nearly everything! (Corn syrup, very unhealthy, is found in almost every manufactured food product.) Here's a better use for ethanol: A stepping stone! While better alternative fuels are developed, such as electric (go Tesla Roadster
!) or hydrogen, ethanol could be powering many engines.Image from:
http://www.metromodemedia.com/images/Features/Issue%2018/corn-pump-350.jpg
10 comments:
I think you have it backwards. Gasoline price hikes are affecting the price of everything.
It was the oil companies who created the glut of demand for ethanol when they simultaneously decided to replace MTBE oxygenates with ethanol without a gradual phase-in.
The price of corn (which has subsided to $3/bushel after peaking at nearly $4 because of the oil industry decision) has very little impact on the final price of food or meat products .
I agree. Corn is a natural, renewable resource, unlike gas. Even if prices do raise, they will eventually drop.
Sorry, typo in my previous post made me delete it (to instead of Do), so here is a repost.
Mr. C. Scott Miller-
First of all, sorry for not replying earlier. Thanks for your observation. You are right, oil companies have been responsible for the start of the price hikes of corn-containing consumer goods. However, the ethanol demand is still growing, and the prices of certain consumer goods are still climbing.
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Pradyumna-
Sorry for not replying earlier. Thanks for your comment. Corn may be a renewable resource, but farmers can only grow so much corn...
Hello, Abhi! This is Maggie. So... the gas prices are ridiculous! Why can't people just drive BMW's instead of big, honking SUVs and mini-vans?
Although you have a good point, I would have to agree with Mr. Miller. The oil companies are to blame for the sky-rocketing prices.
Maggie-
First of all, this post is about ethanol, not gasoline. Anyway, I am curious to know why you said "Why can't everyone just drive BMW's...?" BMW's aren't exactly cheap (the cheapest BMW, the 1 series, will retail for about a $30,000 base price in the US.), or fuel-efficient. Were you thinking of the Hydrogen 7? (a variant of the BMW flagship 7 series that runs entirely on hydrogen, currently in testing with some BMW owners.)
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Priya-
Thanks! Anyway, the main point of my post was that corn demand has increased to produce ethanol. Thus, the prices of certain consumer goods containing corn has increased. It is true that the oil companies created the artificial demand for ethanol, as Mr. Miller says.
Hey Abhi! Ethanol is way cheaper than any of the other alternatives. Even at maximum efficancy, hydrogen and others are alot harder to use and harder to get to maximum efficiancy. I predict that, within a year, we will make 100% corn fuel. However, it will take another 10-15 to get hydrogen, etc. working full-time. Solar power, on the other hand, is incredibly cheap and good.
Hey-
I know nothing about cars. I skimmed your post...therefore....
my dad has a BMW, and the gas lasts soo much longer than in my mom's Honda Odyssey...
Whoa! A monolith of a conversation!
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Caleb-
I agree with you! Thanks for commenting.
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Maggie-
Oh! So that's why you said that "Why can't everyone drive BMW's?". Thanks for sharing. Not all BMW's are as fuel-efficient as your dad's though. What model does he drive?
Probably a 1- or 3-series.
I've thoroughly read this through over the past few years and I think you have a point. But I also do think that the oil companies are to blame.
Look at gas prices and how long this has been here: on August 30, 2007, the date of Mr. Miller's post, gas prices were...what...skyrocketing to nearly ~$3.50-$4? Now look on the date of this post: January 13, 2009: Gas prices are down to $1.40.
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