EXXON ENERGY

Ethanol biofuel plants have been installed in the Midwest, and heavily promoted through Federal subsidies. Does ethanol biofuel have a chance as a significant source of alternative energy?

That ethanol is benefiting our nation’s quest toward energy independence, in the way that it is used today, is a hard argument.

Common sense is common sense, why are we using farm lands to make fuel for automobiles? There is still plenty of oil in the Earth, and plenty of room for improvements in efficiency and renewable energy technologies.

Ethanol has been driving up food prices by competing with the grains market. Farmers deserve to earn good money there is no question. That the gasoline market is competing with our fundamental food production capability, however, brings a good argument.

Another disadvantage of ethanol biofuel is the lower amount of combustive energy. It’s energy density is only 60% of gasoline (HHV = 12,700 BTU/lb vs. 20,500 BTU/lb), and so pound for pound doesn’t deliver the same amount of useful energy.

You could anticipate ethanol being used for home heating and hot water but currently it is being marketed as a replacement fuel for automobiles.

Maybe the final blow against ethanol biofuel is that, unlike solar power, wind power, and other alternative energy systems, it is not tapping a source of free energy (unless it is derived from agricultural waste). When one considers the energy consumed in the planting, harvesting, processing, and refining of the grains then ethanol is actually quite expensive as a fuel. With almost half the energy of gasoline or diesel but similar amounts of production costs it doesn’t add up in every case.

In total, ethanol production as practiced today is not as valuable of an alternative energy as some would have us believe. Using agricultural waste to generate ethanol, on the other hand, has a lot of potential in years to come. It falls into a broad definition of alternative energy but currently ethanol is not tapping a free energy source like some alternatives do.