Or restore it to habitat and save tax money for government support for corporate welfare, not to mention erosion, siltation, chemical contamination, air pollution, resource depletion, blah, blah, blah?
WT At 11:25 AM 2/9/2006, Don Cipollini wrote: >I have thought recently about this, and without having read that paper, >I might throw out that supporting ethanol fuel production could have the >secondary (mostly) beneficial effect of keeping some land in agriculture >that might otherwise be under development pressure. > >DeSolla,Shane [Burlington] wrote: > > >I am pretty sure that this has already been posted on ECOLOG, but since > >the topic has come up again... > > > >A study by Patzek (2004) found that the use of ethanol (obtained from > >growing corn) ultimately consumes more fossil fuels than it saves. He > >advocates that the US dramatically reduce its corn production, and > >reduce its use of ethanol from corn. Not all biofuel comes from corn, > >but I suspect that the vast majority of it does. > > > >This is not the only study that came to this conclusion, but is among > >the most recent. It is a long read, but is in depth. Of course that does > >not make it right, but his argument is not trivial. > > > >Tad W Patzek. 2004. Thermodynamics of the Corn-Ethanol Biofuel Cycle. > >Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences. 23(6):519-567. > > > >Cheers, > >Shane > > > >Opinions expressed are those of the author and do not represent those of > >his employer. > > > > > >-- >*********************************** >Don Cipollini, Ph.D. >Associate Professor-Plant Physiology/Chemical Ecology >Associate Director Environmental Sciences PhD Program >Department of Biological Sciences >Wright State University >3640 Colonel Glenn Highway >Dayton, Ohio 45435-0001 >(937) 775-3805 >FAX (937) 775-3320 >email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Lab Page: http://www.wright.edu/~don.cipollini
