Ethanol - Disadvantages Of Ethanol As An Alternative Fuel

I think it would be better because theres not alot we can do is there?

i mean global warming i dont think can be completely prevented and we cant exactly stop it. but we can slow it down. hydrogen is highly explosive so i mean we dont want that do we. so i think ethanol is the only way forward.

thankyou.

by the way if this is wrong then im only 15.

I think we should also look at the positives of ethanol!

Yes, ethanol is an alternative to gasoline. but is it more effective? it seems to me that we should go back to using horses. yes, that would be the most effective way of doing things.

Which numbers should we believe on this issue?

At current prices, Brazil can make ethanol for about $1 a gallon, according to the World Bank. That compares with the international price of gasoline of about $1.50 a gallon. Even though ethanol gets less mileage than gasoline, in Brazil it's still cheaper per mile driven. As a result, ethanol now accounts for as much as 20% of Brazil's transport fuel market.

The country's use of gasoline has actually declined since the late 1970s. The use of alternative fuels in the rest of the world is a scant 1%.

I was reading an article once that said that because of the rising corn prices the poor can't buy corn anymore to make their bread. I thought maybe that would be helpful in your site.

an alternative to ethanol since its pricey is electric vehicles

its cheap and is more environmental friendly



- im only 15 also

Considering the extent of damage that will occur to all engines using ethenol (automobiles, lawn mowers, boats) and physical harm to many people when engines fail, petitions and a class action lawsuit are in order and should not be delayed.

ethanol has many advantages.In fuure we can use the ethanol fuel 100% in automobile.we need cetain canges in the engine.When we change the dezine of engine we can use this project.Also ethanol is less may creat pollution.So this is the better product to use in future.

I agree although prices would go up, wouldn't it help our planet in the long run and even in the longer run wouldn't it help man kind even better?

It may be an alternative, however, electicity is created by the combustion of fossile fuels (i.e. Gasoline.) If we were to stop using it and go completely electric, we would face the dangers of sky-rocketing energy costs, because the production of fossil fuels will go up, due to the low demand for it.

I agree with what you guys have said, however you forgot the amount of gasoline that is used just to produce the ethanol is more than the ethanol produced. Vehicals used to harvest the grain need gas, then gas is needed to transport it to the refineries, the refineries need gas to operate machinery to produce the ethanol, and finally they need more gasoline to move it to the gas companies. And the chain continues to grow, after the gasoline companies get it, they have to use more fuel to move it to the salesmen across the U.S., which gets at last to the consumer. And the milage of the gasoline with ethanol added is several if not 10s of mpg less than just plain gasoline. Is it worth our time to dig a pit like this to throw millions if not billions of dollars into? I think not.

There are some rather large disadvantages to ethanol as an alternative or blend in with gasoline:
Cost of production - without subsidies and special tax incentives and rebates, even in the summer of 2008 the "savings"
are dubious at best. A full cost analysis, as featured in many auto and mechanical related periodicals shows that the mass media and the enviros have ignored or tried to hide the facts. Often not included in mass media reporting are factors of soil depletion, added fertilizer, herbicide and fungicide applications, costs of drying grains, storage and transportation costs, finding and paying for huge impacts on local wells and water supplies, damage to existing pipelines, pumps, storage tanks, as well as the greatly increased problems and dangers associated with fighting fires involving ethanol. Also overlooked in the bias by the media to promote ethanol use is the damage to our liberties and freedom from mandatory requirements placed upon fuel sellers, consumers, and automobile manufacturers by state and federal governments and agencies.
As with the global warming hoax, there is an industry being created which is the creature of the advocates within government who see the force of law as the method of achieving change. These
forces seek control of everyone's access to energy, and with and at great
expense and waste, hope to mask their
greed and desire to control whole industries with environmental advocacy with a religious intensity.
The possible fly in the ointment fortunately, is that the economic hard times looming in the years ahead will
prove that environmental lunacy is too costly for ordinary people to put up with, and green causes in general will hopefully be cast into the dust bin of history.
Already hundreds of ethanol plant construction projects have been shelved, and if they are ever completed, will have to be done the old fashioned way: private capital risked voluntarily and without public funds or special advantages. Sound science and technology usually makes for the soundest public policy. If not, then the markets eventually will win out every time, but at much greater cost than when left most free.

Presently driving an older motorhome had many problems occur when using ethanol. In the midwest there was an option to use 100% gasoline at a higher cost. returning to the northwest we found that that option is no longer available. More problems with older vehicles and reduced gas mileage in newer ones. I have to agree with Pat Coleman on a class action lawsuit on forcing ethanol on the public. I am retired and can not afford extensive repair or new vechiles.