Ethanol Use in US and Brazil Rises Sharply
In Europe, not so much…
Brazil, which has to a large degree lead the ethanol charge because of its ability to use sugar cane for ethanol production rather than corn, now relies on the biofuel for 16% of its energy needs. This puts ethanol at #2 in Brazil for largest energy sources, right ahead of hydroelectric, which accounts for 14.7% of electricity production. Both of these sources, however, are behind petroleum, which is the largest energy producer in Brazil.
In the US, on the other hand, ethanol still does not play such a prominent role, even though 23.7% of the annual corn crop is going to create biofuels. The market share that ethanol commands in the US will likely only increase, especially as new technologies allow for the production of cellulosic ethanol and sources other than corn come into vogue.
Even though ethanol seems to be one of the waves of the future, this year production was actually down in Europe, even though that loss in production was made up for by imports from ethanol-rich Brazil. Globally, ethanol only contributed 1.3% to oil consumption in 2007, but that share does appear to be rising rapidly, especially as US politicians push ethanol subsidies and Brazil continues to ramp up production in order to satisfy world demand.
Posts Related to Ethanol and the Food vs. Fuel Debate:
- USDA Says Ethanol Accounts for Only 3% of Increased Cost of Food
- “Perfect Storm” Inflating Food Prices Worldwide
- Biodiesel Myth (Or Fact?) #23: Biodiesel is Raising Food Prices
- Europe’s EPA Advises Suspending Biofuel Targets
- 2015: 30% of US Corn Harvest Will Be Gasoline
Source: agra
Image credit: Jeffrey Beall under Creative Commons
Ethanol, George Bush supported it, it has to be flawed! Ask any high school physics teacher, turning hemp oil or algae oil into bio-diesel is more efficient. I know America is addicted to gasoline cars, but European Turbo-diesels, particularly those from BMW and VW, offer much higher return in miles per gallon of fuel than gasoline or gasoline/ethanol engines. Diesels use higher compression ratios, hence get more out of their fuel than bloodsucking, oil crisis causing, short-lived spark ignition low compression engines - just by their design - its BETTER America - BETTER! Check it out and buy diesel to wash away high oil prices.
P.S. Your refiners are f**king you up the ass on diesel fuel, it is cheaper to refine and there is more of it in a barrel of oil, before cracking it to gasoline, an expensive and wasteful process, since, yield in miles traveled for the diesel fuel are much higher than for the cracked gas. How’s your wallet area feel now?
Lower energy content per gallon ( 84,000 Btu per gallon for ethanol vs. gasoline which contains about 115,000 Btu’s per gallon) means we have to devote even more crop grains to equal equivalent power. Food prices soon will reach luxury item status…no thanks.
A hydrogen based economy is the way to go, not carbon based. Without a radical shift away from the hydrocarbon based energy scenario, we will have painted ourselves into a corner.
Not sure Hydrogen based is the best option…
Just a quick sequence to show the energy being ‘transformed’:
(Electric car): (Solar/wind/hydroelectric/etc) -> Electricity
(Hydrogen car): (Solar/wind/hydroelectric/etc) -> Electricity -> (+water) -> Hydrogen
seems that Electric car is the ‘best’ option…
Regarding the source of electricity:
(Hydro-electric): Sun -> Water in higher altitudes (potential energy) -> Electricity
(Coal): Coal -> water vapor -> electricity
(Nuclear): Atomic energy -> Heat/water vapor -> electricity
(Solar): sun -> Electricity
(Wind): sun (+earth movement) -> wind -> Electricity
This one is actually arguble … Solar is the ’shortest’ path… but atomic is extremelly efficient. Some are cleaner, some are not…
But basically, there are only two ‘types’:
-One originates from energy stored in elements (radiation, molecules), as for Radioactive materials, coal, gas, diesel, ethanol, etc - which are ‘limited’ - unless the process that created them in the first place happens again. (i.e: Ethanol: plant needs nutrients + sun light in order to create sugar, which is then used to create alcohol…)
-The other one is from the sun, which is a constant source of energy, and does not require our intervention in order to create it.
So Solar power would be my pick, and electricity the energy format used (for convinience purposes…)