What are the advantages of ethanol? Gasoline seems so much more convenient. Or are we just more used to gas?

Question

I was reading an article about Hillary voting against a large federal boost for the grain-based fuel to reduce our need for foreign oil in the Washington Post. Now seems , she is in favor of it since she is in Iowa. I can understand it wasn't an issue to her when she voted against it - as there are no ethanol plants in New York. But why not look at the bigger national picture?

Would ethanol be a vision in the future or is it a delusion just to make people believe our nation is looking for alteratives?

Energy is a political issue - that is why this is here......

qncyguy21- My source was the Washington Post - H. Clinton's vote was in 2005 .
Thought I gave that info in - but could be wrong.

Answer 1

I live in farm country. I am not a farmer, but it makes sense to me to buy fuel from a domestic market than Arab countries....most people in Minnesota use a 10% ethanol blend, it has worked fine for 20 years....it gives good jobs to Americans...get on board with it...it's cleaner burning too....and the waste can be used as a high protein cattle feed

one disadvantage is that more grain will go to ethanol and the price will go up for grain based foods and meat, but only minor percentages, but expect some volatility in the grain market (going up)

Answer 2

first of all, if you are going to make a comment, please site your sources, when she actually voted aginst it.
Because it is in the best interest of tax payers, not to support something that once again could just be a fad promoted by energy companies trying to make a quick buck off of corporate welfare, like the ethanol push was nearly 2 decades ago.
this ethanol rush went on about 2 dacades ago. It didn't make it very far.
the government gave out all sorts of $$ to build ethanol plants thast never wer ebuilt, or went out of business.
BUT, i think the ethanol industry will be a short lived fad.
why? because it will be replaces by compressed bio-gas industry, as that technology becomes more available.
Ethanol is already becoming an obsolete fuel, even before it is being utilized.
ethanol fuel is essentially robbing peter to pay paul.
it is only a temprary fix, when we need a more permanent solution.
bio-gas, seems to be a more feasible solution. why? because when something decays it creates gases that we ussually aren't using. those gases are just being released into the atmosphere. if we do use them, we reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions, and don't drive food costs up either.

Answer 3

It is called pandering. Iowa is a grain state and ethenol would be a boost to their economy. Once the caucus moves from Iowa you probably won't hear any more about this for while.

Ethanol is the vision of the future, but don't count on big oil to do aything about it, it is going t have to grow out of the common folks getting into the emerging market. If people start buying flex fuel hybrids and using ethanol this country could start getting into good shape.

Answer 4

Ethanol will help reduce oil dependency but not a total solution. It would require a lot more corn that we can produce to make enough ethanol. I am a big supporter of ethanol. It doesnt burn as efficiently as oil but it is cheaper and burns cleaner. ethanol supports American farmers and not Middle East governments. I still think the hydrogen cell cars are the best bet but still have a lot of work to make those feasible.

Answer 5

Ethanol is just more corporate welfare for ADM. Nuclear is really the only option.

Answer 6

My question is, what will happen to a food source as the population grows?

Answer 7

Decide for yourself;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanol_fuel

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