CBS News: Ethanol bad for enviroment

What a great read!!!


http://www.cbsnews.com/...onment-ap/?pageNum=6
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It's funny to work at a company such as John Deere where many if not most still farm or have a farm in the family and bad mouth Ethanol yet still sell crop to the ethanol producers. many conversations will lead to "sugarcane" is a better crop for ethanol but you don't hear than on a grand scale. Fortunately I've found places I can get non-ethanol based fuel for my needs for my outboards, garden tractor and the other small engines around the garage.
 
Consumer Reports did a cradle to grave cost-benefit analysis about 5 years ago. They concluded that it actually cost more oil based energy to produce a gallon of ethanol when compared to a gallon of gasoline, largely because of the planting and herbicide treatment costs that employ fossil fuels to power the machinery.

MSU has been engaged in a switch grass study that actually appears to be a cost-effective means of producing ethanol. There is a base period of 2-3 years prior these plots being ready for harvest. Wouldn't it be interesting to see what would come from pheasant habitat actually being created via agriculture operations!
 
Consumer Reports did a cradle to grave cost-benefit analysis about 5 years ago. They concluded that it actually cost more oil based energy to produce a gallon of ethanol when compared to a gallon of gasoline, largely because of the planting and herbicide treatment costs that employ fossil fuels to power the machinery.

MSU has been engaged in a switch grass study that actually appears to be a cost-effective means of producing ethanol. There is a base period of 2-3 years prior these plots being ready for harvest. Wouldn't it be interesting to see what would come from pheasant habitat actually being created via agriculture operations!
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So many studies. I read a few years ago where the energy needed to produce the components of a Toyota Prius cost more than the return of energy savings of owning a Prius!
 
Aside from the amount of fuel it requires to farm corn, corn is a crop which takes tremendous amounts of fertilizer to grow, particularly nitrogen. Production of nitrogen is dependant on natural gas, one molecule of natural gas to create one molecule of ammonia. I have long argued that all local and fleet vehicles (bus, local delivery, etc.) should be mandated to run on LNG (liquid natural gas). My $0.02.
 
Consumer Reports did a cradle to grave cost-benefit analysis about 5 years ago. They concluded that it actually cost more oil based energy to produce a gallon of ethanol when compared to a gallon of gasoline, largely because of the planting and herbicide treatment costs that employ fossil fuels to power the machinery.

MSU has been engaged in a switch grass study that actually appears to be a cost-effective means of producing ethanol. There is a base period of 2-3 years prior these plots being ready for harvest. Wouldn't it be interesting to see what would come from pheasant habitat actually being created via agriculture operations!
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So many studies. I read a few years ago where the energy needed to produce the components of a Toyota Prius cost more than the return of energy savings of owning a Prius!
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How can those expensive batteries made out of hazzardous elements be good? Electric cars, ethanol, etc. are faux green products. They make people feel good as they post onto facebook with their smart phones.
 
MSU has been engaged in a switch grass study that actually appears to be a cost-effective means of producing ethanol. There is a base period of 2-3 years prior these plots being ready for harvest. Wouldn't it be interesting to see what would come from pheasant habitat actually being created via agriculture operations!

UMaine is working with an abandoned pulp mill to convert wood pulp byproducts to diesel and jet fuel. Perhaps they'll create a need to regenerate popple stands for woodcock and grouse! In all seriousness, I bet it's way too early to pick winners and losers in the "clean fuel" game. In any case, whatever clean fuel turns out to be most cost- and environmentally-effective, it won't help much unless we also reduce energy demand.

I'm willing to bet that more carbon can be saved by making existing vehicles, appliances and electronics more energy efficient than by replacing fossil fuels with "green" ones.

As a start, I'd love for someone to make a small, energy efficient pick-up that can tow up to 2,000 pounds and has real 4WD and high ground clearance. I'd certainly buy one. If they can make an F150 that gets 21 mpg on the highway, they ought to be able to make something Ranger-sized that gets near 30.
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I have long said that if you believe ethanol is 'green' you should come here in january. Bare dirt fields as far as you can see.
Farmers got talked into putting a lot of money and time into ethanol plants so they have an investment that is now hard for some of them to justify. I think there is a chance in a few years to have a farm 'crisis' larger then in the 1980s. Farm land has been selling for unreal amounts and now they have out-produced the demand driving the price down. A lot of the money they have made in the past few years has been put back into overpriced land and equipment that depreciates fast and has high maintenance costs. I hope some have diversified their investments more then I believe they have.

And then wait until the wind generators start to wear out and the companies that put them in start abandoning them. Business tip for someone, get into large scale metal salvage with a couple cranes.

Tim
 
they already have small diesel pickups in other country's getting 45 t0 50 mpg but they say they will not pass emission test in us.
 
Switchgrass sounds good on the surface but I doubt it would do much for habitat unless it is mandated that a certain percentage is left standing through the winter. I'll guarantee that every field will be mowed flat in october if there is money to be made with no requirement to leave some. It would probably help ducks yet but not native prairie grouse that need some help. I think a native grass mix would be better then straight switchgrass. Single specie grass fields make me sort of nervous.
I also wonder about storing and moving all that grass. Its much easier to ship and store corn compared to bales of hay.

I know sugar cane is brought up every once in a while but unless we get this global warming working at warp speed its not of much use in the USA unless you are in south Florida or Hawaii. It works great in Brazil, that seems to be doing wonders for the Amazon.

Tim
 
As a consequence of the multi-year rearing interval prior being able to harvest switchgrass as a bio-fuels crop, it would likely be grown via rotation of plots. So, no vast open harvested field, since as a member of the grass family, it regrows and is capable of multiple year yields. Since it is a native grass, capable of growth in dense stands, no herbicides necessary. Also, it is not be a true monoculture plot, and still capable of yielding good BTU/acre of harvested crop via the MSU data I have seen from the Chatham Farm Experiment Station plots. Nesting cover for waterfowl and pheasants and predator avoidance cover.

With EPA approval of the E-85 mandate, I strongly doubt that any farmer raising corn has lost money via market issues; drought impacts in 2012, but not fluctuation in demand. Legislation mandating ethanol as an oxygenator in fuel has essentially garanteed a market on a national level for corn.
 
It's interesting that you make that statement-very timely. The Federal government just announced that they are reducing the mandated requirements for ethanol content in gasoline. With the World glut in oil and decreased refining costs from not being required to meet ethanol content mandates, look for gasoline prices to continue to fall and stabilize. That results in a boatload of additional consumer spending from these freed-up discretionary spending dollars.

As duckboat owners, we can look toward a future with fewer ethanol related issues!

Captain Jeff, someone is listening...
http://thehill.com/blogs/regwatch/energyenvironment/190422-epa-retreats-on-ethanol
 
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I know sugar cane is brought up every once in a while but unless we get this global warming working at warp speed its not of much use in the USA unless you are in south Florida or Hawaii.

Tim
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Sugar cane is actually the most efficient plant to produce ethanol.

But the environmental costs are enormous & would never be approved here in the US!!!

1) Takes huge amounts of water & most are run as "muck farms" pumping water on & off the fields
2) The fertilizer saturated "muck" leaves the farms & is put into the water system, normally causing "cattail monocultures" to form in our duck holes & polluting our fishing spots.

Just ask the Florida Everglades or the Florida Bay (Flamingo)

3) Sugar cane must be burned off prior to harvesting, putting huge amounts of black suet in the air

The Fonjul's are slowly moving their cane production out of Florida, not due to regulations but through huge state & fed land buyouts.

You see, it is Big Sugar that destroyed the Everglades & the Florida Bay & now the state & the feds have to pay billions with a "B" to fix it.

Sorry, I'll get off my soap box.

Oh, forgot to mention the govt subsidies Big Sugar also receives for being the only companies growing sugar in the US.

It would make you sick!!!
 
Study after study has shown that the Head Start program has no value, but the government continues to fund it. Why should they demonstrate any better judgement about food for fuel?
 
With all this squabbling about whether or not we're getting the TRUTH on green initiatives, I just thought I'd get this post back on a more hunting related track:

Finally, some honesty in big buck hunting stories.

Below is a picture of the new world record whitetail buck. It was taken by the cousin of a co-worker's sister's uncle's best friend's son-in-law's niece's hairdresser's neighbor's ex-boyfriend's oldest nephew. Reportedly it will score 2603-1/8 by B&C standard and was shot in West Texas on a really windy day, 85 degrees downhill, around a curve at 900 yards with a .22 cal. rifle.

Supposedly, this deer had killed a Brahma bull, two Land Rovers, and six Jehovah's Witnesses in the last two weeks alone. They said it was winning a fight with Bigfoot when it was shot. It has also been confirmed that the buck had been seen drinking discharge water from a nuclear power plant.

All this has been checked and confirmed by my friends at Snopes.con

Honestly and Sincerely,
Barack H. Obama

View attachment BUCK.jpg
 
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