How the Ethanol Crisis Affects You:
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Ethanol and Energy
Overview
Although energy independence is a worthwhile goal for the United States, ethanol
alone cannot solve the energy crisis. Grain-based ethanol is not a viable liquid
fuel replacement for gasoline, and it is not economically competitive. Further,
ethanol demand exceeds the available corn supply.
Quick Facts
- "For years, the ethanol lobby has touted home-grown biofuels as a way to wean the
nation from foreign oil. Now, looking at the flooded plains of the Midwest, we are
confronted with the awful realization that domestic energy production is vulnerable..."
"Corn-belt floods sweep aside ethanol hubris", MoneyWatch, June
12, 2008
- "A Chevy Tahoe flex-fuel vehicle was more fuel efficient, had almost equal CO2 emissions
and cost less to take a 667 mile roundtrip on gasoline than on E85 (85% ethanol
and 15% gas)."
Dan Edmunds, Director of Vehicle Testing and Philip Reed, Senior
Consumer Advice Editor - 6/5/2007
- "…and enough with ethanol, we're using 30% of the corn crop for 3% of gasoline.
It's so stupid, it's scary."
Jim Cramer, MSNBC, interview on the Today Show. 6/9/2008
- "Last year, 25% of America's corn crop was diverted to produce ethanol. In 2008,
that number will grow to 30%-35%, and it will soar even higher in the years to come."
Op-Ed by Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison - 4/30/08
- "Last year, the United States burned about a quarter of its national corn supply
as fuel -- and this led to only a 1 percent reduction in the country's oil consumption."
Op-Ed: "Ethanol's Failed Promise", Lester Brown, Earth Policy Institute
and Jonathan Lewis, Clean Air Task Force, Washington Post,4/22/2008
- "Ethanol is not a viable liquid fuel replacement for oil because you use more energy
to produce these fuels than you get from the combustion of these products."
"Cornell ecologist's study finds that producing ethanol and biodiesel
from corn and other crops is not worth the energy", Cornell University News Service,
7/5/2005
- In October 2006, estimates showed that drivers paying $2.91 per gallon for E85 actually
paid about $3.99 for the energy equivalent of a gallon of gasoline because the distance
the vehicles traveled per gallon declined by 27%.
"Key Challenges Remain for Developing and Deploying Advanced Energy Technologies
to Meet Future Needs", Department of Energy - Dec. 2006
- "Filling the 25-gallon tank of an SUV with pure ethanol requires over 450 pounds
of corn, which contains enough calories to feed one person for a year."
"How Biofuels Could Starve the Poor", C. Ford Runge and Benjamin
Senauer, Foreign Affairs, May/June 2007
Studies, Testimony and Reports
Articles of Interest
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