Friday, May 07, 2010
Ethanol is good, or is it?
Ethanol doesn't sound so good after reading this.
In fact, it seems to cost more in resources and environmental harm than it's worth.
Am I missing something?...
In fact, it seems to cost more in resources and environmental harm than it's worth.
Am I missing something?...
These paragraphs are from an Investors.com opinion article:
"No one pays much attention to the aquatic 'dead zones' that have appeared off our shores at the mouths of our rivers due to agricultural runoff created by mandates for corn-based ethanol. Ethanol is green energy, good energy — never mind that such biofuels drive up food prices, increase hunger around the world and damage the environment in their own way."
"Ethanol takes 1,700 gallons of water to produce one gallon of ethanol. Each acre of corn needed to make the ethanol requires 130 pounds of nitrogen and 55 pounds of phosphorous.
Increased acreage to produce ethanol means increased agricultural runoff, which is creating aquatic dead zones in our rivers, bays and coastal areas."
