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![]() "Si" wrote in message oups.com... Corn is not the most efficient source for ethanol. If I am wearing a cynical hat I am prone to think that it is just an agri-business wheeze. They are all set up for handling corn, they have squeezed the cost end of the business to the bone, the only way left is the old fashioned grow the demand end. They have practically maxed out the corn syrup side of things (try finding any food stuff out there that doesn't have added corn syrup). So what's left? Fuel. Elephant grass yields more ethanol than corn by some margin and yet 'go green, go yellow' is the refrain. Not very joined up thinking. IMHO biodiesel is a better option for a home brewer. Si "Bog snorkler extraordinaire" Here is a link to a very interesting story about American agricultu http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...toryId=5342514 (I wish there was a transcript available) |
#2
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It's also quite a lot of BS.
A McDonald's meal has 2 bushels of corn?? Not. From that, he divines that it takes 2 gallons of fossil fuel to make a McDonald's meal. More crap. He's not taking anything into account for the use of the by-products in the manufacture of things like corn syrup or ethanol. He also goes on about how evil corn is because it's ruining our eating habits. That's like blaming the gun for shooting someone instead of the person pulling the trigger. He talks about "cheap" fertilizer. In the last two years my anhydrous ammonia has gone from $170 per ton to $500 per ton. That's not cheap, I'm sorry to say, and the idea that farmers just dump the fertilizer on willy nilly is ludicrous, it's simply not cost effective. I pay almost $1,000/ year for nothing other than soil sampling and fertilizer recommendations. Then he talks about getting off fossil fuels and solar energy. What a moron. What does he think actually grows the crops? It's all solar powered. This idiot hasn't spent 30 minutes on a farm in his life. Not surprising that he's a university researcher. Those that can, do, those the can't, teach and write scare tactic books. John Stricker PS: The most efficient thing to make ethanol from is the crop with the highest sugar content so that's sugar beets and sugar cane. It CAN be made from corn and within 10 miles of me there is an Ethanol plant that uses strictly grain sorghum. His calculations of what the energy return of Ethanol is completely disregards the value of things like distiller's grain and other by-products which are high value, high use items. ".Blueskies." wrote in message . net... "Si" wrote in message oups.com... Corn is not the most efficient source for ethanol. If I am wearing a cynical hat I am prone to think that it is just an agri-business wheeze. They are all set up for handling corn, they have squeezed the cost end of the business to the bone, the only way left is the old fashioned grow the demand end. They have practically maxed out the corn syrup side of things (try finding any food stuff out there that doesn't have added corn syrup). So what's left? Fuel. Elephant grass yields more ethanol than corn by some margin and yet 'go green, go yellow' is the refrain. Not very joined up thinking. IMHO biodiesel is a better option for a home brewer. Si "Bog snorkler extraordinaire" Here is a link to a very interesting story about American agricultu http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...toryId=5342514 (I wish there was a transcript available) |
#3
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"JStricker" wrote:
It's also quite a lot of BS. A McDonald's meal has 2 bushels of corn?? Not. From that, he divines that it takes 2 gallons of fossil fuel to make a McDonald's meal. More crap. Enjoyed your analysis and your viewpoint from the farmer's perspective. With even a grain (pun intended) of common sense, it should be obvious that McDonalds isn't going to subsidize each and every meal they serve by charging FAR less for it than the "reported raw materials" above cost (imagine the cost if you actually include the packaging, labor, potato and other food product). It also assumes that farmers are losing a boatload of money on every bushel of corn they sell. Nice of them to do that for the rest of us, huh? Unfortuately, the kind of nonsense you point out is invisible to a large segment of the population who'll believe anything they read (as long as it aligns with their other agendas). Mark Hickey Habanero Cycles http://www.habcycles.com Home of the $795 ti frame |
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