Surprise, surprise! Corn ethanol is not a clean or efficient fuel "... even after an estimated $50 billion in subsidies, in part because of some of the ‘hidden’ costs of ethanol production".
A few years ago, there was much opposition to a proposed ethanol plant a short distance from where I live because of the pressure it would have put on the water table. Older, shallower wells (mine is fairly deep, partly due to state DNR requirments) would have likely have had to be re-drilled. The plant would have drawn millions of gallons out of the aquifer every year ("I drink your milkshake").
Corn production itself is fuel and petrochemical intensive. The linked article cites a study by the University of Tennessee which says:
The other biofuels lack the corn states' lobby in Washington, D.C.
We can't end this travesty soon enough.
A few years ago, there was much opposition to a proposed ethanol plant a short distance from where I live because of the pressure it would have put on the water table. Older, shallower wells (mine is fairly deep, partly due to state DNR requirments) would have likely have had to be re-drilled. The plant would have drawn millions of gallons out of the aquifer every year ("I drink your milkshake").
Corn production itself is fuel and petrochemical intensive. The linked article cites a study by the University of Tennessee which says:
From an environmental and energy independence perspective, the subsidies and mandates for corn ethanol would have been better and more effectively used had they been directed towards advanced biofuels.
The other biofuels lack the corn states' lobby in Washington, D.C.
We can't end this travesty soon enough.
Another reason to hope for a "de-centralization", of this country as presently configured.
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