Most of us have heard the debate about using ethanol as fuel for our vehicles. One on hand, ethanol is a biofuel alternative to gasoline, and the U.S. desperately needs to reduce its dependence on foreign oil. On the other hand, research shows that producing ethanol takes much more energy than the fossil fuel actually puts out when used as fuel. And since ethanol is made from crops like corn and sugar cane, there is also less of these crops for people to eat, and the prices of such crops has as a result increased exponentially.

Ethanol is considered “renewable” because it pretty much is the result of conversion of the sun’s energy into usable energy. The process to get from the crops to E85, the blend found in fueling stations, is a complicated one with many steps. UC Berkeley geoengineering professor Tad Patzek did a study considering often-overlooked stages in the process, like the use of fossil fuels to extrude alcohol from the corn, produce fertilizers, and transport the crops and dispose of wastewater. He and his class determined that ethanol contains 65% less usable energy than is consumed in the process of making it.

Additionally, the price of corn in the U.S. has risen from around $2 a barrel a few years ago, to around $6 a barrel today. An agriculture economist at Purdue University, along with many other notable scientists, says that the increase in ethanol production is the main driving force behind this price increase. And the jump in corn prices is already affecting the price of food - in Mexico, which gets much of its corn from the U.S., the price of corn tortillas has doubled since 2006.

While ethanol used as fuel is a good idea in theory, it may be time for the U.S. to be investing in different forms of alternative energy. It’s nice to be able to fill up our cars with something other than gasoline, but the effects of using ethanol seem to be worse than using gas.

For more information about car rental in Atlanta, contact Triangle Rent A Car today!

Tags: Auto News //