The Great Ethanol Scam

 

ethanol, the way it is produced in the US, is not even economically viable, hence the need for all the subsidization

 

cliffs?

 

gas companies are sometimes using more than the 10% ethanol blend. ethanol is wreaking havoc on car's fuel systems, causing consumers to have their whole fuel systems replaced

consumers are basically SOL, because repair shops don't test the ethanol content of the gasoline, they just replace the fuel pump/injectors/gas tank/whatever else gets damaged, leaving consumers (on average) with a $1200 repair bill

 

It takes more energy to make ethanol than you get back in fuel savings. It takes the equivalent of 1.29 gallons of gasoline to produce enough ethanol to replace one gallon of gasoline at the pump. Instead of making the nation more energy self-sufficient, ethanol production actually increases our need for oil and gas imports, Pimentel says.

It takes the energy equivalent of 271 gallons of gasoline to grow a hectare (about 2.47 acres) of corn. Part of that energy is for tractor fuel, but the biggest use is for manufacturing nitrogen fertilizers, which are mandatory for high-yield corn-growing.

These fertilizers are made by heating natural gas under controlled circumstances so that it reacts with nitrogen in the air. Not only does it take heat to do this, but it uses up natural gas that could have been burned as fuel. In corn-growing, nitrogen fertilizers alone use the equivalent of 80 gallons of gasoline per hectare.

More energy is needed to turn the corn into fuel. Ethanol is produced by grinding corn, mixing it with water, and fermenting it in a process similar to that used to make beer or wine. The unprocessed product, in fact, is a lot like beer: 8 percent alcohol and 92 percent water. Not something that's going to burn in a car engine.

To make a usable fuel, all but 0.5 percent of the water must be removed. This is done by a series of distillation and chemical extractions that use even more energy than was used to grow the corn. And that doesn't count the diesel fuel needed to ship corn to the ethanol plant or ethanol to the pump.

 

Federal ethanol-fuel policies have forced consumers to pay an extra 0.5 to 0.8 % in increased food prices according to sources. This painful increase has not only been noticed by all households in the U.S. but had struck hard those who rely on a constant inexpensive supply of food. Because of these increases, the government could face paying nearly $1 billion more in food stamps because of the redirection of corn feedstock for corn based products.

Corn is used in a variety of products such as corn-syrups used to sweeten many of our daily foods and drinks, meats, dairy, and poultry. Because of the wide spread use of such products the allocation of corn crops for alternative products can really hit hard where consumers need it the most, at home. By producing more ethanol fuel from the nation

 

Who came up with this stupid idea? Hang 'em!

 

I don't know about in cars, but it's hell in small engines!

Small engines sit for longer periods of time and it does much more damage. I've just spent over $300 on 2 go karts because we had to totally replace the carbs.

It does wonders in the string trimmers and all the other little gizmos you have around the house and is the reason they are so hard to start after a while.

I've found a ethanol free source of gas and my lawnmowers, go karts, edgers, etc. all love me now and work so much better.

 

^yea the article addresses landscapers problems

 

Ethanol had caused havoc on my liver.