Of course, it releases it back into the atmosphere when consumed, but compare that to crude oil. These are real costs and if we don’t pay them, our children will (Brown).Īlso, many emission comparison tests seem to forget that all biofuels come from biomass, which must remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in the first place, to grow. These are known as external costs in economics, and when added together, roughly total $12 per gallon. Even if oil prices were to remain the same, to consumers, there are still the indirect costs to society such as climate change, oil industry subsidies, oil spills, etc. As a result, oil prices will continue to rise as the total cost per oil barrel produced increases. Gasoline, on the other hand, is approaching the end of peak production (ACS). There are also promising new methods that will soon join the market, notably the ethanol from trash and algae farms. while the remaining 15 percent is derived from wheat, potatoes, sorghum, & cellulosic sources (wood, grasses, the inedible parts of plants). Currently, corn-stock ethanol is responsible for about 85 percent of the ethanol in the U.S. So actually we are simply burning up corn and getting little or nothing of benefit in return.Įthanol has a bright future in comparison to gasoline. One thing that your experimental test drive from San Diego to Vegas didn't show was that had you used 10% ethenol added, you would actually use as much or more fossil fuel on any given test drive. Since that time I realized that it wasn't a mechanical problem, nor was it watered down "bad gas" but rather the ethenol add fuel. I became suspicious of the "bad gas" that we must have received at that stop with the ethenol. At the next fuel stop we filled the tanks again and I found that our mpg had dropped significantly. The loss of power was alarming to me and I thought that we were having mechanical problems. No sooner had we encountered one of these grades then I became aware that the truck was downshifting, not one gear but two gears. We were in that part of the country where there are steep grades. Once in the western US, we encountered our first gas station that advertised ethenol added fuel and the price was lower than the straight gas. Our milage at the time averaged about 12 mpg on regular gasoline. We bought a new 1984 Ford Van to tow a 32 foot travel trailer. Upon retiring in 1984, my wife and I decided to travel for an extended period of time. So where is the win? BTW, I hear luxury cars sales in Iowa are brisk. This money comes out of our paychecks and bank accounts or is borrowed from the Chinese and our kids get to pay it and with interest. And finally, the US Government uses our tax money to subsidize ethanol fuel. sunflower plants require 118 percent more fossil energy than the fuel produced.Īlso, it takes lots of water to make ethanol, about 3 gallons of water per gallon of ethanol. soybean plants requires 27 percent more fossil energy than the fuel produced, and In terms of energy output compared with the energy input for biodiesel production, the study found that: wood biomass requires 57 percent more fossil energy than the fuel produced. switch grass requires 45 percent more fossil energy than the fuel produced and corn requires 29 percent more fossil energy than the fuel produced This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.Cornell ecologist's study finds that producing ethanol and biodiesel from corn and other crops is not worth the energy! In terms of energy output compared with energy input for ethanol production, a Cornell University and University of California-Berkeley study found that: Looking To Diversify in a Bear Market? Consider These Alternative Investmentsġ2 Expenses Successful People Don't Waste Time or Money On The Downsides of Retirement That Nobody Talks About If you're reasonable and fair, it's much more likely that they will be, too. They can't sell their vehicles at wholesale or invoice prices and they can't give away the store to unreasonable buyers. Like all businesses, they have to keep the lights on, pay the rent, make payroll and, yes, turn a profit. Car salespeople get a bad rap, as do dealerships in general, but the majority are hardworking, honest brokers who trade on their reputations and work diligently to build customer loyalty. Valerii Apetroaiei / Getty Images/iStockphoto Be Fairįinally, don't confuse being firm with being unreasonable.
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