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Does ethanol make sense? You do the math. I will give a link for each fact I use in the calculation.

 

First question. How much corn does it take to produce a gallon of ethanol?

 

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/fuel-efficiency/alternative-fuels/question707.htm

 

Through research performed at Cornell University, we know that 1 acre of land can yield about 7,110 pounds (3,225 kg) of corn, which can be processed into 328 gallons (1240.61 liters) of ethanol. That is about 26.1 pounds (11.84 kg) of corn per gallon.

 

From that same link we get this fact.

 

Gasoline is more efficient than ethanol. One gallon of gasoline is equal to 1.5 gallons of ethanol.

 

So one acre of land would produce the equivalent of about 220 gallons of gas. So the next question is has much gas is used in the U.S.A per year?

 

http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=23&t=10

 

So, for the year 2011, it came to 134 billion gallons. So, divided by 220 gallons per acre means the it would require 609 million acres of arable land to grow the amount of corn needed to replace the fossil fuels used today.

 

According to this link

 

http://www.epa.gov/agriculture/ag101/landuse.html

 

there were 914 million acres of total farm land in the U.S. as of 2012.

 

So, does it really make sense to replace fossil fuel with ethanol?? You do the math!!!!

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V.T. Eric Layton

Making economic sense isn't the point of producing ethanol with corn. The point is for Monsanto to make $$$. ;)

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Making economic sense isn't the point of producing ethanol with corn. The point is for Monsanto to make $$$. ;)

No. It's to get liberals elected. The tragedy is that it doesn't make environmental sense. Edited by lewmur
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V.T. Eric Layton

Not that I want to get into a political debate here, but why is it a liberal Democrat/conservative Republican thing? They both SUCK! Their whirling and twirling around in D.C. is just the dog & pony show to keep you distracted while Big Corp is fulfilling their prime directive... fleecing the world of every penny they can get their hands on. Follow the $$$. You'll always find the truth to the matter in that direction.

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Not that I want to get into a political debate here, but why is it a liberal Democrat/conservative Republican thing? They both SUCK! Their whirling and twirling around in D.C. is just the dog & pony show to keep you distracted while Big Corp is fulfilling their prime directive... fleecing the world of every penny they can get their hands on. Follow the $$$. You'll always find the truth to the matter in that direction.

They might all be crooks, but in this case, ethanol is the Holy Grail of the liberals.
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V.T. Eric Layton

Myeh... without a Congressional voting record re: ethanol legislation, I can't agree or disagree with you. I can tell you this... it's just one very small thing in the vast wasteland of corruption and greed that is sending this country down the crapper. :(

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Myeh... without a Congressional voting record re: ethanol legislation, I can't agree or disagree with you. I can tell you this... it's just one very small thing in the vast wasteland of corruption and greed that is sending this country down the crapper. :(

But you can't dispute the math!!!
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V.T. Eric Layton

It's a racket. Someone's raking in the dough on corn and ethanol production. That's a sure thing.

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Someone like ManBearPig?

 

250px-ManBearPig.JPG

 

Al Gore is now 'Romney Rich'

 

"Al Gore will always be known for suffering one of the most gut-wrenching losses in Electoral College history, but at least he's found a very nice way to cushion the blow. Instead, of spending eight years dealing with the worst problems the world can throw you, in the years since he became Almost-President, Gore has slowly amassed a personal fortune to rival another famous presidential loser.

 

Prompted by a rather impressive month that Gore had last January, Ken Wells and Ari Levy of Bloomberg did an analysis of Gore's public financial transactions to try and get a sense of his net worth. When the lifelong public servant left office in 2001, the former Congressman-turned-Senator-turned-Vice President, was worth about $1.7 million, much of that inherited from his late father, Sen. Al Gore Sr. Pretty impressive for a "farm boy" from Tennessee, but nothing compared to what he's done since then. By turning himself into a technological and environmental evangelist, as well as taking advantage of a few savvy (or lucky) business opportunities, Well and Levy estimate that Gore is now worth about $200 million. Or as they put, he's "Mitt Romney Rich ..."

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Myeh... without a Congressional voting record re: ethanol legislation, I can't agree or disagree with you. I can tell you this... it's just one very small thing in the vast wasteland of corruption and greed that is sending this country down the crapper. :(

A quick google brought me this link

 

http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/166369-senate-votes-to-preserve-6-billion-in-ethanol-subsidies

 

Thirty-four Senate Republicans voted Tuesday to advance a proposal eliminating a $6 billion ethanol tax break, which one GOP leader said struck a blow against the Taxpayer Protection Pledge.

But the measure fell 20 votes short, 40-59, as most Democrats voted against proceeding.

 

This is pretty much the typical split when ethanol votes are taken.

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