It's not easy being green

[jhetley]

According to THE ECONOMIST, if you fill up your SUV with corn ethanol in order to save the planet, you've just used enough maize to feed a person for a year.

This is beside the question of whether corn ethanol from US Agribusiness Inc. provides a net energy gain.

Comments

[sclerotic-rings.livejournal.com]

It doesn't. Not only does it not make sense to use food to produce fuel, unless you're feeding a horse, but the energy payout on ethanol versus gasoline ends any actual energy savings. Oh, there's the noise about ehtanol by cellulose fermentation, but it's like thermonuclear fusion reactors: nobody's been able to develop a cost-effective process that produces more energy than it takes in. Truth be told, you're better off riding a bike, unless you have a source for methane production that doesn't involve regular trips to Taco Bell.

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

I've seen answers of "yes" and "no" and "maybe", depending on who is jiggering the equations to what end.