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Originally Posted by KILLER74Z28
I still don’t get the E85 fad??? I understand it burns cleaner but what people don’t realizes is that in order to make E85, refineries need to burn two to three times more fossil fuel… But don’t worry we’ll figure that out 20 to 30 years from now…  |
The energy input to biofuels isn't that high and it depends on the type. but typically it is about 50% more to make a 'green' fuel. Its like getting out of debt by taking a loan. It solves the problem at the moment but just makes it worse for later on
As for where the push for biofuels, much of it comes from agriculture lobbiests saying that the poor farmer can't get by anymore. Before anyone picks on me for this 5/7 of my uncles are farmers. They seem to be doing fine. On top of that, the bulk of food production in the west is done on an industrial scale with individual farms the size of small countries, not quite the small farm that people had 50 years ago. Enough of the agricultural lesson. The point is the agri-corps are looking for a new way to make money so they make the fuel and get the government to help keep the cost down.
Now, to an extend I support ethanol (I think NASCAR should implement a rule saying that the teams have to grow their own fuel, pure ethanol = pure moonshine). It will help you become more energy independant. Canada has the odd situation where we sell you oil, but we also import it from the middle east as well. I have yet to hear a sensible explanation of that! Anyhoo. The total emissions will be reduced by using E85, just not eliminated as some supporters say.