Will increased corn production requirements for fuel ethanol move Florida to Nebraska?
Federal subsidizes to corn farmers and distillers for ethanol fuel production is driving up the price of every dairy and beef product causing the poorest of us to spend more on basic foods while increasing everyone’s taxes.
But, another future problem being created is the loss of usable farm land. I live in Florida and work with the phosphate industry (among others), especially the phosphate strip mines. The demand for phosphate fertilizer it thru the roof right now because of corn. Corn depletes the soil more than any other food crop so requires the most fertilizer. At the current rate of phosphate usage for corn fields, phosphate deposits in Florida will be totally depleted in 30 years. At that time not only won’t we be able to make ethanol for fuel but food production will drop to levels that will cause world-wide famine!
http://floridafrontier.com/index.html
FLORIDIANS FOR FUSION ENERGY NOW!
Bob – if you are talking switchgrass, it actually has a negative energy balance requiring more energy to produce than can be recovered.
http://petroleum.berkeley.edu/papers/Biofuels/NRRethanol.2005.pdf
Stormy – I read about a similar air motor in Popular Maechanics in the 60′s. Turns out adiabatic compression and expansion of air is a very inefficient energy storage mechanism. Losses from heat and friction make it impractical.
The way for ethanol to become a really cost effective fuel is to stop making it from corn and start making it from low value plants like saw grass, which grow with little water and fertilizer.
You’re right, the ethanol industry is more about winning farm-state votes than about energy. Ethanol is no a productive alternative, for the reasons you state and more. This is only part of a very warped agricultural system that is far more about making money than it is about producing food, energy or other prodcuts. Hopefully the new goverment will make some changes, beginning with a cut in the subsidies to huge agribusiness corporations. But going from there to fusion energy is quite a leap. Maybe someday, but fusion is a long way from being a practical alternative.
Your right ! I live in Iowa and I know ethanol is a BIG consumer fraud. You can’t make enough ethanol from corn to make a difference. While fusion won’t power cars it does have it’s place. Hydrogen is the fuel of the future for cars not ethanol !
Most of the hype about alternate energy fuels do not have the support of industry or government. If either wanted to truly help the consumer, they would have put us on the right track over fifty years ago. Yet here we are no further along in ideas than then. At one point in the 80′s there was a brief resurgence of research, mainly from the artificially produced oil shortage. Today there still are few practical solutions that have had much more than a small following. When you look at some of the things that industry has done to keep things on the back shelves, it is easy to see how every now and then a certain solution gains a brief popularity. That’s what we are seeing today. Buzz words like ethanol, excites the uninformed. Sadly most real solutions will not see the light of day with industry and governments having such vested economic interests in control, power and wealth. The only energy source that presently falls outside of the immediate control of American purvue is a small company who claims they will revolutionize transportation with their engine that uses compressed air pressure for power. Click on the attached link to learn about them and another link about the research I have conducted.
There are several plants which can be used to make ethanol and Bio-Diesel.
Corn
Potato
Sugar Beet
Sugar Cane
Switch Grass.
We got to remeber that this is a new science and will only improve with time.
there is also Hydroponic farming and Aquaponic farming, which may be an alternative.