Thursday, September 18, 2008

Is Ethanol The Right Choice For The Enviorment?

The article that I read talk's about the production of ethanol, specifically E85 and the use of E85 as an alternative fuel. E85 is a combination of 85% ethonal and15% gasoline.The different views E85 are from senators Barack Obama, Hilary Clinton, formal senator John Edwards.Both John Edwards and Obama share very similar ideas on how they would make it possible for a majority of cars to run on ethanol. They both said that since some cars are already capablie of running on ethanol, that the goverment would have to step in and actully make these changes by, replacing current gasoline tanks of those cars who are not capable, with new ones. This would cost the government about $100 for every car. Obama proposed this idea the year,2006 and Edwards proposed his the year, 2007. In this article I also read about the cost of this alternative fuel and it states that, yes E85 can be cheaper but in other cases it is not. It varies depending on what type of car you have also depending on where you live.Switching to E85, can also increase energy security. Obama believes that if major oil companies were to help with this, by just donating 1% of their first quarter profits, they would use that money to install more than 7,000 service stations with E835 compatible pumps. There has already been more than 900 stations that offer to serve alternative fuel. Some states that have none are Maine, Rhode Island, New Jersey, New Hampshire and Vermont. States that do offer to less than 10 are E85 compatible stations are California, Massachusetts and New York. In New York there are E85 compatible stations but only allowed at the use on private government, or stations that are planning but have not yet been operational. There are between 300 to 400 E85 compatible stations in the state of Minnesota. Which brings me to a current article were I read about Indiana's ethanol growth. In this article they talk about how the RFA,(Renewable Fuels Association) is so happy with the Cardinal Ethanol and the Randolph County community for there continues growth of Ethanol. It talks about how the Indiana ethanol plant is conducting 100 million gallons of ethanol per year, and also says that this plant will create a market for about 36 million bushels of local corn, produce about 340,000 tons of distillers dried grains, and will create 45 new well-paying jobs.

My Thoughts on ethanol as in alternative fuel is that there are better ways to get alternative fuels. Offshore Drilling would be at the top of my list and then maybe E85. I say this because I have done previous research on Ethanol and I have found out the cons on producing ethonal I have found that alot of sweets and candy will be made with corn syrup, prices of various items will raise, and Non- ethanol producing crop prices will rise.
Sources

4 comments:

Elise's randomeness said...

Are you writing this blog for class? It seems based on the setup that you are, which is also why I started my blog as well. My english 102 teacher made it a requirement for class. I really liked this blog btw, it was very informative.

sosantiago said...

Yes I am.I post a new blog every Tuesday and Thursday for my Humanities class. They are connected to topics we study in class.

Elise's randomeness said...

Wow thats great. I think more teachers need to make students aware that being computer and internet literate is very important in todays society. I am very glad my teacher is not the only one doing this. I was shocked at how many of the students in my class didn't even know how to use email, which is a basic requirment to be a member of this site. Good luck with your blog, I'll randomely come back and check it because I have liked what you have posted so far. They are very insightfull.

sosantiago said...

Yes I am It is for my Humanities class. Thank you.