 On the surface, ethanol seems like a great idea. Instead of importing millions of barrels of oil, why not just use the renewable resources readily available domestically? The problem is, however, this wonderul renewable resource, at least in the United States, happens to also feed millions of people and animals.
One possible answer to this dilemma is to produce ethanol from an alternative resource--one that we don't already use for consumption. Ethanol derived from cellulosic materiels such as grass, wood, straw and other plant materials seems to be one such solution.
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 Switchgrass, a resilient, high-yield grass native to North
America, has been drawing a lot of attention lately thanks to the president giving
it his imprimatur in his 2006 State of the Union address.
This might just be more than political rhetoric because Switchgrass
(also known as Tall Panic Grass) could become the biofuel of our dreams.
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The Grey Clouds Blurring Flex Cars Goal
The Grey Clouds Blurring Flex Cars Goal
by Ryan Thomas
Business Week reported that even though President Bush enjoyed a high-profile photo-op on Monday with the heads of the Big Three automakers who showed him an impressive lineup of their latest clean-car models. Flex cars include General Motors Corporation’s model that can run on ethanol, a plug-in vehicle powered by hydrogen from the Ford Motor Co., and a DaimlerChrysler AG Jeep fueled by a biodiesel blend. According to the magazine all was not quite what it seemed.
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 Ethanol is a clean-burning fuel made from grain alcohol produced from assorted crops usually corn. It is commonly used used in combination with traditional gasoline, usually in a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% unleaded gasoline and called E-85. |
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Kevin Hassett put forth an interesting view on Ethanol claiming that its promotion and use is really a political racket: " The fact is, ethanol is a scam that allows farm states to extract resources from everybody else and pretend to be virtuous while doing so. We would all be better off if Congress just wrote these states a check with no strings attached. At least then we wouldn't be wasting all that energy." (source )
Hassett claims that not only does Ethanol take more energy to produce than it generates but it also produces waste through pesticides and herbicides and is ultimately not a viable replacement for oil. Ultimately, Hassett feels that congressman see Ethanol as a "cash cow for their constituents."
As Ethanol becomes more known through recent promotional efforts from GM and with President Bush touting the need for alternative fuel sources, the debate on fuels such as Ethanol and hydrogen will certainly continue to be of interest to those interested in renewable energy and alternative fuels. |
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Driving 
