(03-04-2019, 05:28 PM)NilesMike Wrote:In retrospect, probably right up there on the list. It sounded good pretty 40 years ago. It does burn cleaner. It lessened our dependency on foreign oil at a time that was needed. And the struggling AG industry was going to be assisted one way or the other, as we are not about to stop feeding ourselves, nor should we.(03-04-2019, 08:34 AM)fenders53 Wrote:
-Keep in mind Iowa also leads the nation in ethanol production for decades, which is forced on everyone else in the US via subsidies and laws the EPA is behind. It is NOT more cost effective than the gasoline it displaces, except during the times oil prices spike very high. The last stat I read years ago was it typically costs $1.05 to make $1.00 worth of ethanol. The hope was technology would correct that in a short time.
-It's a fact that ethanol is cleaner energy.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power_in_Iowa
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Burning corn for fuel has to be one of the stupidest ideas the government has ever foisted upon us.
But that was then, and this is now. I thought surely the technological efficiencies would come. After XXX time they should have dialed back subsidies and it stands on it's own, or it just goes away. Maybe it could stand on it's own, though I no longer believe that. What is ADM's incentive to invest significantly in research, when it's clear they don't have to. Or maybe they have, and know almost break even is as good as it gets? I don't know the answer to that question. I do know the BTU content of grain alcohol is less than gasoline. Ethanol cost needs to get to the gas station 10% cheaper, just to make it a tie, and they haven't been able to pull that off.
Now back to utilities. It's time we know for sure if solar is truly viable. Lets mandate it in AZ where Otter lives and see if it has a shot of working stand alone.
Seriously though, there are some good documentaries on Denmark on youtube. They attempted to go all in on green. It is interesting how it is playing out. Spoiler alert, for now they still need their nuke power backup in a major way.