Organizing for America | Roger Wehage's Blog

Roger Wehage's Blog

By Roger from Dunlap, IL - May 8th, 2007 at 10:33 am EDT

Why can't people see that large amounts of oil and natural gas are required to produce ethanol? Modern technology may now provide a small net energy gain to the ethanol production process, but only a small fraction of the oil we currently consume could be replaced by ethanol, even if all the land were used. Listen up people; large quantities of natural gas and oil are required to produce ethanol. All that natural gas used for fertilizer and processing ethanol can't be used to heat our homes or generate electricity. All that oil used to manufacture ethanol processing equipment, to raise, harvest, and transport the corn, and to transport the ethanol can't be used to produce gas for our cars and trucks.

Let's do a simple math problem. Suppose one energy unit of oil or ethanol is required to run a car for one day. Now, suppose ten energy units of oil and natural gas are required to produce eleven energy units of ethanol (which is better than many experts are saying.) Then those ten energy units of oil and natural gas cannot be used for other purposes, as they have gone into producing the eleven energy units of ethanol, for a net gain of one energy unit. Thus, realizing a net gain of one energy unit has requiresd the expenditure of ten energy units of oil and natural gas, yielding eleven energy units of ethanol, which can be used. The problem is that those ten units of oil and natural gas have produced a tremendous amount of pollution (which is someone else's problem, not the producers') and those eleven units of ethanol have consumed a tremendous amount of corn and land resources (which is someone else's problem, not the producers'.) And where did those ten units of oil and natural gas come from? We all know the answer. When will the blind see?

If 20 percent of all imported oil and natural gas were used to produce ethanol, that would yield a net energy gain of just two percent. Not a whole lot, is it? If 50 percent of all imported oil and natural gas could be used to produce ethanol, that would yield a net energy gain of just five percent. And this is why smart people know that ethanol is not a viable energy source, and ethanol production will continue only until people realize that they are paying for its inefficiency through many billions of subsidy tax dollars. And as ethanol usage increases, so must those subsidy tax dollars. When will the blind see?

It is sad that ethanol is so politically correct these days. What candidate is his/her right mind would not praise the virtues of ethanol in Iowa or any midwestern state, where ethanol welfare flows in by the billions? When will the blind see?

Link

Read More »

Mail to a Friend | Link | Comments (1) | Report Objectionable Content

Senator Obama, What is Your Place in History?

By Roger from Dunlap, IL - May 7th, 2007 at 7:59 am EDT

Knox College 2005 Commencement Video: Link

Mail to a Friend | Link | Comments (0) | Report Objectionable Content

Posts

Content on blogs in My.BarackObama represents the opinions of community members and in no way should be interpreted as endorsed or approved by the campaign.