-----Original Message-----
From: Jed Rothwell [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Friday, February 03, 2006 4:57 PM
To: vortex-L@eskimo.com
Subject: RE: Message from D. Pimentel
Zell, Chris wrote:
>All that matters is the price per BTU, without subsidy for either
>gasoline or ethanol.
Ah. Well, if we apply that standard the ethanol industry will disappear
overnight. It is heavily subsidized directly and indirectly. That is
say, farmers are subsidized for growing corn, and then the ethanol
industry is subsidized for making the fuel.
Brazil dropped their subsidies, some day we can too.
" horrendous and totally uncontrolled pollution caused by ethanol
production"
Silly and reaching. "Totally uncontrolled"? absurd
Basically, ethanol can be viewed as a scheme to rob the taxpayers and
wire transfer the money to Saudi Arabia.
No, reduces the need for their oil, even if a present 30%
>That is the valid determinant, not the pessimism of prejudiced
academics.
The academics in this case are the only objective people whose
analysis make any sense.
Of course. How could we ever doubt such selfless , well intentioned
people?
And some recent academics feel otherwise:
www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2006/01/26_ethanol.shtml
>As to efficiency, studies done of Amish farming showed good
>profitability during the '70s, when farm failures were commonly
>reported - despite little use of pesticides or energy intensive
methods.
That would be economic efficiency. That is a different story.
No, it relates to energy, as cost - It's THE AMISH! - who made money in
the '70s while energy costs helped to wreck other farmers.
.
>Nor does the growth of cellulose necessarily need lots of fertilizer
>or pesticides compared to other products. - and tractors can run on
>ethanol, too.
Sure, but no one in the ethanol business runs any of their machines
on the stuff.
Not yet.
The fact that they do not tells you
all you need to know.
For now, but the future could be different, with development
Perhaps in the future a breakthrough in something like bioengineering
will allow much more efficient production of ethanol.
My God, has the veil of academic pessimism lifted for a brief moment?
If that is what
we are aiming for, we should stop subsidizing present-day production
of ethanol with existing methods, and redirect the money to basic
research instead.
No, we can do both and build ethanol infastructure in the meantime
Paying billions to farmers and the owners of
obsolete factories today contributes nothing to progress.
Jobs in rural areas that also reduce oil dependence are important
