By David Fessler, Energy Infrastructure Specialist
"You can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear," as the old 16th century saying goes.
Translation: You can dress something up but it doesn't change what it is. Or in the case of bio-ethanol fuel, what it isn't.
But "putting lipstick on a pig" (a more recent adage) is exactly what ethanol fuel advocates continue to do. I coined the term "Greendoggle" to describe the environmental travesty that's happening in the bio-fuel sector.
Please don't misunderstand. I'm excited about all forms of energy: fossil fuels, renewables, and nuclear. My primary interest – and I believe that of most Americans – is to see us get off of Middle East oil in my lifetime.
Moving towards renewables like wind, solar and geothermal make all the sense in the world. Nuclear – in spite of the spent fuel storage issue – is also a viable means of weaning ourselves off of imported oil.
So is domestic natural gas. The U.S. is blessed with a 100-year supply, making it the keeper of the second biggest reserves in the world.
But ethanol fuel isn't viable. Not at all. Even with its high levels of greenhouse gas emissions, burning coal represents a better solution than ethanol… especially when all the detrimental factors of bio-ethanol are considered.
Who in their right mind would think that taking the world's primary food stocks (corn, wheat and rice) and turning them into fuel, makes any sense at all?
What are these people thinking?
Let's take a deeper look. You can draw your own conclusions.
Ethanol's Big Start Out of the Gate
Five years ago, bio-fuels like bio-ethanol, bio-diesel and bio-gasoline were billed as America's solution to imported oil. Dwindling supplies of crude, rising prices and increasing worldwide demand drove prices skyward.
America had to do something.
In the move towards renewable energy sources – solar, wind and geothermal – the idea of bio-fuels was also starting to catch fire.
According to the Green argument, carbon produced from bio-ethanol is better than the carbon produced from fossil fuels because it is offset by carbon absorbed when plants (the fuel) are grown.
On the surface, bio-ethanol seemed like a great renewable energy idea. The ethanol race was on. The problem was that…
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Related Investment U Articles:
- Biofuels: Don’t Let This Alternative Energy “Greendoggle” Fool You
- Investing in Cellulosic Ethanol
- Brazil Turns to U.S. to Meet Ethanol Demands
- As Corn Prices Pop, Investors Are Set to Make Great Grains
- Could the U.S. Really Be Oil and Energy Independent in 10 Years?
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