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Ethanol's mid-life crisis

Economist -- "...Sugar has been grown in Brazil for 500 years, and the country is by far the world’s biggest exporter of it. But sugar now also forms the nucleus of a new agro-industrial and renewable-energy complex. Biofuels, mainly derived from sugar, are Brazil’s most important source of energy after oil. For a unit of energy, the production and use of sugar-based ethanol generates only two-fifths of the carbon emissions of petrol, and half those of corn-based ethanol, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency. And bioplastics made from sugar cane are poised to move from the laboratory to the corner store, with the launch of soft-drink bottles.

Yet the industry is struggling to turn all these economic and environmental benefits into reliable revenues...."

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Submitted Sep 08, 2010 By: barsantij

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bar1035 Champion Author Charlotte Posts:5,813 Points:831,995 Joined:Aug 2006	Message Posted: Sep 9, 2010 5:05:00 PM Ignore bar1035 Report Abuse me thinks what they're saying is sugar is better than corn. Anybody not on the corn payroll with a brain would agree. But that doesn't mean ethanol is good for old cars or small engines. And I have both
CorvairHaven Champion Author Cleveland Posts:2,097 Points:991,150 Joined:Sep 2008	Message Posted: Sep 9, 2010 9:58:31 AM Ignore CorvairHaven Report Abuse Many people will agree that ethanol is junk. My carburetor-equipped cars have their rubber innards parts eaten up way too quickly.
torn8owx Champion Author Philadelphia Posts:2,313 Points:577,515 Joined:Feb 2010	Message Posted: Sep 9, 2010 7:38:36 AM Ignore torn8owx Report Abuse Now Brazil spent a fortune on this starting back in the 80s. For a long time this was another underwater government funded program. I would love to see how all these biofuel programs would stack up without government subsidies
vandamme Champion Author New York Posts:1,018 Points:117,800 Joined:Nov 2008	Message Posted: Sep 9, 2010 7:34:03 AM Ignore vandamme Report Abuse We could be energy independent, but US agribusiness has congress eating out of their hands. Nov. 2 is coming, folks. Turn them all out!
BBopp Champion Author Dayton Posts:5,035 Points:1,594,945 Joined:Dec 2006	Message Posted: Sep 9, 2010 5:35:44 AM Ignore BBopp Report Abuse Very informative article. However, my car won't run well or get decent mileage on biofuel.
SBlouch Champion Author San Antonio Posts:6,885 Points:1,470,780 Joined:Apr 2007	Message Posted: Sep 9, 2010 1:05:42 AM Ignore SBlouch Report Abuse Congress needs to get off their band wagon of using corn, a food for animals and humans, to make ethanol. Good for Brazil for using sugar instead to make ethanol.
PDQBlues Champion Author San Diego Posts:4,706 Points:980,350 Joined:Jan 2009	Message Posted: Sep 9, 2010 12:51:26 AM Ignore PDQBlues Report Abuse While the corn industry bought off our elected officials to push corn-based ethanol (and to drive up prices for corn and many other food stuff), Brazil was smartly creating a vibrant industry to ween itself off oil. It'll be these industries that will destroy this country.
runout9 Champion Author New Jersey Posts:3,139 Points:957,625 Joined:Dec 2008	Message Posted: Sep 9, 2010 12:39:03 AM Ignore runout9 Report Abuse Brasil is only one of the few none OPEC members that have achieved energy independence. Sugar based ethanol & offshore drilling successes are the reason.
packards42 Champion Author Washington Posts:4,234 Points:716,195 Joined:Feb 2005	Message Posted: Sep 9, 2010 12:35:55 AM Ignore packards42 Report Abuse The US government charge an import tax on ethanol (50 cent a gallon), this is unfair to the American Public because this doesn't allow the public to take advantage of the sugar base ethanol that could be import into the USA lower the cost of our fuels. The government preference is to subsidized corn based ethanol. So many people complain about food verse fuel when we speak of eathnol, it seem that if we import sugar base ethanol we could meet the ethanol targets the former president set for the government/public and allow corn to be use as food stock, for corn syrup (a health hazard for a overweight public) or fattening live stock for that tasty fat meet (another health hazard), as we should all be eating lean grass feed meats. It make one wonder if we should allow any corn sugars at all for food. Cheap food and high calories are hurting Americas health and waistline. and contributing to rise in diabetes type 2
fuelconscious Champion Author Los Angeles Posts:2,077 Points:537,795 Joined:Jan 2008	Message Posted: Sep 8, 2010 10:31:42 PM Ignore fuelconscious Report Abuse With so much sugar going into cars, they might just become diabetics....
pulpwood Champion Author Mississippi Posts:5,631 Points:1,498,750 Joined:Sep 2006	Message Posted: Sep 8, 2010 7:14:03 PM Ignore pulpwood Report Abuse Big oil has kept this out of America for over thirty years and counting!
gasokie Champion Author Oklahoma Posts:2,302 Points:960,505 Joined:May 2007	Message Posted: Sep 8, 2010 5:44:43 PM Ignore gasokie Report Abuse It's just not economically feasible to do the ethanol thing in the USA, just yet. Not as long as we have ample supplies of cheaper gasoline and diesel, both very superior fuels which incidentally, are used to make ethanol from corn...
MAC48 All-Star Author Dallas Posts:728 Points:499,925 Joined:Dec 2006	Message Posted: Sep 8, 2010 5:21:45 PM Ignore MAC48 Report Abuse Hope things work out for the sugar cane based ethanol industry in Brazil. However, the US does not need reduce its tarrifs on Brazilian ethanol imports since this would only replace one foreign fuel source providing crude oil with another foreign fuel source providing ethanol. What the US probably needs to do is to slowly convert our ethanol plants to producing butanol and slowly eliminate our use of corn to make any bio fuel. Only if bio fuels can be made from already existing agricultural waste products, waste products from fermenting & distilling beer & whiskey, or crops of grass/trees/weeds grown on marginal food producing land will they ever be practical as a supplement to or blended with gasoline.
kag2010 Champion Author Winnipeg Posts:2,889 Points:560,435 Joined:Apr 2010	Message Posted: Sep 8, 2010 4:14:56 PM Ignore kag2010 Report Abuse New opportunities and new risks.!!!!!!!!!!!
fullcirclethink Champion Author Washington Posts:1,527 Points:118,645 Joined:Jun 2009	Message Posted: Sep 8, 2010 3:03:17 PM Ignore fullcirclethink Report Abuse Sugar by any other name is still harmful when processed.....
TripleHs Champion Author Austin Posts:1,300 Points:492,480 Joined:Oct 2009	Message Posted: Sep 8, 2010 2:37:04 PM Ignore TripleHs Report Abuse things have been changing rapidly ... new opportunities and new risks ...