Quake3World

yeah alien technology ftw

lol...nightshade owned...

Yes, I did.

Survivor wrote:Isn't more because ethanol is quick-replenishing (coming from plants and all) and oil isn't (well not for millions of years) that they want to shift to ethanol? Wouldn't think the bastards would be doing it to counter global warming.

To some extent.
However, it counters global warming by not injecting any additional carbon into the atmosphere. Since you grow the corn/sugar cane to get ethanol, there is a cycle of carbon being spewed into the air (burning the ethanol) and then getting reabsorbed (grow the plants), so your net carbon production is essentially zero. Of course burning fossil fuels increases the amount of carbon and leads to global warming since there is no cycle (drill for oil, burn, repeat).

Wizard .3 wrote:However, it counters global warming by not injecting any additional carbon into the atmosphere. Since you grow the corn/sugar cane to get ethanol, there is a cycle of carbon being spewed into the air (burning the ethanol) and then getting reabsorbed (grow the plants), so your net carbon production is essentially zero. Of course burning fossil fuels increases the amount of carbon and leads to global warming since there is no cycle (drill for oil, burn, repeat).

Dammit, I'm pissed @ myself for not realizing that when I posted that link. fs...

GoaGrrl wrote:Sounds like it. GG monkeyface leader of the most oppressed nation in the free world.

Refreshing flip-floppery.

Aren't we fortunate you chose to vote for Bush over Nader.

Fender wrote:

Wizard .3 wrote:However, it counters global warming by not injecting any additional carbon into the atmosphere. Since you grow the corn/sugar cane to get ethanol, there is a cycle of carbon being spewed into the air (burning the ethanol) and then getting reabsorbed (grow the plants), so your net carbon production is essentially zero. Of course burning fossil fuels increases the amount of carbon and leads to global warming since there is no cycle (drill for oil, burn, repeat).

Dammit, I'm pissed @ myself for not realizing that when I posted that link. fs...

heh ya, from what I gather, whoever wrote that report doesn't understand global warming or the carbon cycle. Sure it spews 54% more CO2 into the atmosphere, but it doesn't really matter when you reabsorb it into plant matter to make more ethanol later on.
Although... ethanol obviously isn't the holy grail of energy. The debate is on whether it is even a net energy producer. It's also difficult to support a fuel which directly reduces our food production.

Thing is, Brazil who is the largest producer of ethanol in the world keep cutting down rainforest in order to grow sugar cane, which isn't really that good for the environment either.

biofuels = false hope

If anything, surplus sugar cane/corn production should be made into ethanol to reduce oil consumption, but biofuels should never (can never) be used as a primary fuel.