tarheel91 said:
LNRT said:
Desroko said:
That only affects one aspect of the energy crisis, also. Most petroleum usage in America is put towards transportation.
Solar and wind power would be helpful in producing ethanol or hydrogen, but ethanol has a lot of problems as a fuel (corn ethanol is believed by most to be net-negative, meaning it requires more energy to prpduce than it yields, and it inflates food prices by taking supply off the market, which is also becoming a problem these days), and we don't realy have the technology to store and transport hydrogen efficiently, though I believe hydrogen-fueled vehicles are possible today. |
It is true that corn based ethanol is net-negative is some areas such as western Kansas but it is efficient in Iowa and other places because they don't have to water their crops. Plus most of the ethanol plants are set up to switch to other crops such as milo or sugar cane. Once they are able to produce ethanol from the entire plant instead of just parts of it it will be effective. But until then it is iffy at best. |
You're not considering the environmental effects of corn ethanol either. All the fertilizers and pesticides used go straight to the Gulf of Mexico and are rapidly expanding the Dead Zone. |
New types of corn are reducing the amounts of fertilizer and pesticide we use because we are making it resistent to pests and better able to restist drought and nitrogen deficiency, ect. Plus when a lot of ethanol plants switch to milo it will greatly decrease those factors. It will be a while before ethanol is viable but we will get there eventually.
