> -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On > Behalf Of jon louis mann > Sent: Monday, July 09, 2007 1:24 PM > To: Killer Bs Discussion > Subject: Who Killed the Electric Car > > > I saw the film Dan, at the Santa Monica Library and went away with the > same feelings of frustration. I live in California and wasn't even > aware these prototypes were out there. At the talk afterward some of > the problems with fuel cells and alternative technology were discussed. > I learned that Switch-grass, Sugar Cane, and even Hemp, are much more > efficient than Corn, but our farmers get government subsidies for > growing Corn.
With all due respect, listening to claims by advocacy groups is not the same as learning. I know as a fact, from having a relative that has farmed both corn and soybeans in the same year, that the government subsidies are and have not been just for one crop. For example, the latest form of the subsidies that he has received have been in the form of holding back areas of his farm that have the highest risk of erosion from planting. This has accelerated the increase in topsoil on his farm. Second, if we look at sugar cane, we see that it is only grown in the warmest wettest parts of the US (Hawaii, Florida and Louisiana are listed, but I think there is still some sugar cane in SE Texas). The yields in Fl. and La are significantly lower (about 2x per year) because these fields see occasional light frosts. Obviously, this is not a crop for the corn belt. We cannot, like Brazil, simply cut down more rain forest to plant sugar cane. Switchgrass, on paper, is better, but there it requires significant amounts of energy to turn it into biofuel. There are conflicting numbers on this, but they do tend to indicate that producing ethanol with switchgrass is more energy intensive than it is for corn. In 10 years, given the progress in bioengineering, we may be seeing different economics....or we may not. I'm for funding this type of bioengineering, but we won't know the results until they are here. > What really gets me is that China is starting to produce cars for their > burgeoning market when they should be exploring alternatives to the > internal combustion engine that they could export to western countries! Why would we by more expensive cars in the future when we haven't to date? China's reliance on coal fired plants, and dirty ones at that, indicate that the economics of fossil fuel usage vs. other cleaner technologies. They are at the stage in economic development that we were, say, 70 years ago or so...when pollution was considered the smell of money. Dan M. Dan M. _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
