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Hater Depot
Joined: 29 Mar 2005
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Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 1:56 pm Post subject: Down with ethanol |
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http://www.tnr.com/blog/the-vine/the-gao-takes-corn-ethanol
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There's ample evidence that the ongoing corn- and soy-ethanol frenzy in the United States and Europe has indirectly fostered deforestation and jacked up food prices. A 2008 Science study found that these "first-generation" biofuels produce nearly twice as many greenhouse-gas emissions as gasoline, once you factor in all the indirect land-use effects. Alas, Congress is tilted toward rural and farm interests by design, which means corn ethanol isn't slinking away anytime soon. Still, we could at least start with small steps�there's really no need for these subsidies, which total some $4 billion per year (and will rise to $6.75 billion per year by 2015). |
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Rusty Shackleford
Joined: 08 May 2008
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Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 3:57 pm Post subject: |
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Unintended consequences in action. When govts give favors to special interest groups, there are always negative knock-on effects that weren't intended, but entirely predictable. |
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blade
Joined: 30 Jun 2007
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Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 9:06 pm Post subject: |
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Here is an excellent piece by George Monbiot on the subject of bio fuels.
http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2007/03/27/a-lethal-solution/
A Lethal Solution
Posted March 27, 2007
We need a five-year freeze on biofuels, before they wreck the planet.By George Monbiot. Published in the Guardian 27th March 2007.
It used to be a matter of good intentions gone awry. Now it is plain fraud. The governments using biofuel to tackle global warming know that it causes more harm than good. But they plough on regardless.
In theory, fuels made from plants can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by cars and trucks. Plants absorb carbon as they grow - it is released again when the fuel is burnt. By encouraging oil companies to switch from fossil plants to living ones, governments on both sides of the Atlantic claim to be �decarbonising� our transport networks. |
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Rusty Shackleford
Joined: 08 May 2008
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Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 9:45 pm Post subject: |
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blade wrote: |
We need a five-year freeze on biofuels, |
That is a really bad idea. We need a 10,000 year freeze on govts pumping billions into pet projects. There is a almost certainly a market for bio fuels. It's just not the answer to whatever the question is. |
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DrugstoreCowgirl
Joined: 08 May 2009 Location: Daegu-where the streets have no name
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Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 10:21 pm Post subject: |
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Not to mention that ethanol is ruining cars. I don't know how it is in other states, but Florida recently passed a law that requires all gasoline to contain ethanol. My parents cars were having problems so they took them to the mechanic and he said that he gets cars with this problem all the time because the cars aren't made to run on ethanol and it is ruining the engines. |
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