Flex-fuel hybrid cars COULD end foreign oil dependency, flex fuel Hummers and Tahoes NEVER will
Over the last several months there has been a tremendous amount of hype around ethanol. In fact, GM's GoYellow campaign seems to imply that every American could drive a flex-fuel Hummer and America could still end foreign oil dependency. Yet, scientists don't agree, and they say corn-based ethanol will have little effect on foreign oil consumption. Of course, ethanol supporters suggest other forms of biomass, such as cellulosic ethanol - which still require undeveloped technologies - could possibly achieve a 30% drop in gasoline consumption by 2030. "There are many people who believe that biomass has the power to replace our appetite for gasoline," said Kimberly Gray, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Northwestern University. "But that will only occur with significant improvements in energy efficiency and smart growth." (more)
In reality, despite GM's marketing deception, corn offers very little hope for America's fuel needs, especially if GM only produces Tahoes and Hummers. America needs smaller vehicles, and it needs millions and millions of hybrid cars. While smaller flex-fuel hybrid cars won't end gasoline consumption anytime soon, they could end foreign oil dependency - something flex-fuel gas guzzlers will NEVER accomplish.
Labels: ethanol, flex-fuel, ford escape hybrid, foreign oil dependency, fuel efficiency, hybrid cars, small cars
posted by Dahcredyns @ 10:54 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
I disagree with the negative impact of this statement. I feel if we don't start now, we may never benefit from flex-fueled cars. Anything that can be fermented could be used to make the fuel and it could made more effieciently then that of Brasil, which would benefit North America more so. The problem is the auto makers are in bed with the oil companies. So there is no concerted effort by the automakers to push the flex engine. Just think if we actually payed the American farmer to grow crops that we usually pay him not to grow...
Starting now? Ethanol has been around for some 30 years in the U.S. We already pay American farmers billions to grow corn, and if growing corn became really profitable, then the oil industry will probably buy out all the farms, or the chemical industry.
More important, how much quality top soil has been lost in just the last couple of decades due to farming? Without quality top soil we're going to need more and more fertilizers and pesticides to grow our fuel. That'll be perfect, since all these farms are near America's most important aquifers - maybe we can create a whole species of super American mutants!!!
Corn ethanol is just short of a joke. Yes, it can help develop cellulosic ethanol, but many scientists believe it would take decades to achieve a 30% reduction in oil consumption with cellosic ethanol.
Moreover, if cellulosic ethanol simply leads to cheaper gasoline, demand will for all fuels will go up. For decades new fuel efficient technologies have simply been used to make faster, heavier vehicles because of cheap fuel.
Without making significantly more fuel efficient vehicles, ethanol will accomplish very little. Both gas-guzzling and E85 guzzling need to end, and technology can achieve that end, but if Detroit keeps focusing on fuel, rather than fuel efficient technologies, little will change.
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