treehugger.com — The biofuel goldrush may be petering out, says The New York Times, along with hopes of a new future for rural America. Companies and farm co-ops have built so many distilleries so quickly that the ethanol market is facing a glut, in part because the means to distribute it have not kept pace with production.
Oct 3, 2007 View in Crawl 4
greenfutureOct 4, 2007
Seems every alternative energy ideas is under attack these days. The oil companies must be getting worried.Ethanol busted? Not likely. Just a normal business cycle. Too many competitors rushing to make a money. Now they are seeing tough times, higher corn price, increased construction cost (steel and copper) and distribution issues. I expect to see smaller ethanol companies to be out of business by 2008.One likely survivor? VeraSun Energy. Large cash reserve, patent-pending cellulose technology (through partnership with SunEthanol) and a distribution strategy plan (their facility have railroad access).Ethanol is part of a solution but so is wind & solar power, even nuclear should be looked at (think breeder reactors). Each will play it part in a constantly changing world.
deliberatelifeOct 4, 2007
It's not ethanol that's the problem, it's the production methods. Ethanol is just moonshine but with a higher proof, and can be made out of anything. You could make it in your kitchen sink from a bag of grain, if it weren't illegal.
hammerattackOct 4, 2007
Just an editorial comment - I dug the parent up not because he was right, but because the questions he posed are important. People who may not understand the technical arguments pro or con will often make relativistic observations. The ANSWERS to this guys comment are invaluable in helping this issue along. On the technical side, ethanol (ethane) is simply not as efficient of a storage medium for power as gasoline. It has a single carbon-carbon bond as opposed to gasoline (octane) with its seven carbon-carbon bonds. It would still work if it could be cheaply manufactured. However, the only reason ethanol is even remotely practical now is because of massive corn subsidies. We can't grow sugar cane on the scale needed for US production, and it's the most efficient crop for bio-ethanol. Our alternative is switchgrass which grows as a weed in Texas and could really grow anywhere in the southern tier with minimal husbandry. Still, ethanol would require American's to change their driving habits by filling up more often and accepting lower power output from engines designed around gasoline. Meanwhile, there is biodiesel, which is both more efficient and cleaner than petrol diesel and can be more efficiently manufactured than ethanol using most of the same crops. Whereas Brazil leads the way on ethanol, Germany is the biodiesel king and can also supply US automakers with diesel engines suitable for small automobiles. There is also the prospect of using bacteria to manufacture bio-gasoline, which at least once company has demonstrated a proof-of-concept for. So, lukas88's comment is actually right afterall - given enough time, biofuels is a very viable alternative. Just not ethanol.
ajwheelerMar 29, 2008
well i think that we as the citizens will have to make the decision because our government just keeps negotiating to keep oil around and not investing any money for ethanol research.... I myself invested in stock for companies that are researching cellulosic ethanol and are producing bio-diesel such as Earth Biofules INC. Plus i always buy gasoline with at least 10% ethanol in it (even if it is from corn... I'm supporting the research) I might just sound dumb... but this is my opinion .