[PluggyRug]

Well who'd a thunk it.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/ethan ... -1.2616571

[saturn_656]

I'm sure they'll adjust the rules so it remains "green".

[BartSimpson]

Silly greenies.

Last time around they were putting MBTE in the gasoline and polluting groundwater. Now their feel-good answer to gasoline turns out to be far worse than gasoline.

What idiot idea is going to belly flop next?

[Goober911]

People are starving and they subsidize ethanol plants using feedstock derived from food based crops that would normally be sold on the market.
Yep- As to it not being environmentally friendly, that has been known for quite a few years.
But the US & Canada still do it.

[Jabberwalker]

They should be harvesting those huge algae blooms out on Lake Erie that are caused by agricultural run-off and ferment it into ethanol. It would be a win-win way to clean up the lake.

[Delwin]

Even if this turned out to be the greenest energy source in the world it was still a bad idea because of this:


In 2007, the global price of corn doubled as a result of an explosion in ethanol production in the U.S. Because corn is the most common animal feed and has many other uses in the food industry, the price of milk, cheese, eggs, meat, corn-based sweeteners and cereals increased as well. World grain reserves dwindled to less than two months, the lowest level in over 30 years.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/ ... of-no-use/

To be honest, I haven't heard many on the left making the argument on ethanol for sometime. Most had abandoned the idea years ago. But give yourselves a pat on the back guys, sweet victory.

U.S. corn ethanol "was not a good policy":Gore

Date published: Tue, 2010-11-23

ATHENS (Reuters) - Former vice-president Al Gore said support for corn-based ethanol in the United States was "not a good policy", weeks before tax credits are up for renewal.

U.S. blending tax breaks for ethanol make it profitable for refiners to use the fuel even when it is more expensive than gasoline. The credits are up for renewal on December 31.

Total U.S. ethanol subsidies reached $7.7 billion last year according to the International Energy Industry, which said biofuels worldwide received more subsidies than any other form of renewable energy.

"It is not a good policy to have these massive subsidies for (U.S.) first generation ethanol," said Gore, speaking at a green energy business conference in Athens sponsored by Marfin Popular Bank.

"First generation ethanol I think was a mistake. The energy conversion ratios are at best very small.


http://www.p.sierraclub.ca/en/node/3430

[andyt]

As far as I can see, ethanol is a darling of the right, because the tighty righties just love those farmers and ranchers and have no problem subsidizing them.

Ethanol - not good for your brain, not good for your car. What is it good for?

[Delwin]

I don't like ethanol and I don't like glycinol ether.

[andyt]

Sorry, my chemistry is from 30 years ago. I know what ether does from reading Hunter S Thompson:

$1:

There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge

but I don't know what glycinol ether is? Looking it up wasn't very helpful either.

[Delwin]

Sorry it's a horrible pun. Ethanol is an alcohol made from the corn. Glycinol is an alcohol made from soybean. Glycinol ether is a compound of this alcohol and ether.

Ether is supposed to sound like either, and that's it. That's the joke. Get it?

[andyt]

I got the ether/either thing, but I gotta say as a joke it's still flying over my head.

[Delwin]

No it's just a horribly bad joke. I heard a variant of it used on Big Bang theory. I like puns.

[andyt]

Juts call me Penny, I guess.

[Delwin]

The original was worse.

"I don't care for perchloroethylene, and I don't like glycol ether."

[Delwin]

It sounds like im saying i don't like this alcohol, and i don't like this alcohol either. But in fact, I have nothing against the second alcohol. It's the compound I take issue with. It's funny right?