The Washington Times
  • Subscribe
  • Times News Services
  • RSS
  • Mobile Headlines
  • e-edition
  • E-MAIL ALERTS
  • REGISTER
  • LOG IN
  • E-MAIL ALERTS
  • WELCOME
  • Your Profile
  • Log Out
  • Front Page Image
  • Classifieds
  • Autos
  • Real Estate
  • Jobs
  • Special Sections
  • Customer Service
  • Home
  • News
  • Opinion
  • Sports
    • NFL
    • NBA/WNBA
    • MLB
    • NHL
    • Tennis
    • Golf
    • Motorsports
    • Soccer
    • NCAA
    • Olympics
    • Outdoors
    • Other
  • Culture
    • Home & Living
    • Family & Kids
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Travel
    • Health
    • Washington Visitors
    • Books
    • Military History
    • Life
    • Auto
    • TV Listings
    • Movie Listings
    • Death Notices
    • Entertainment
  • Themes
  • Communities
  • Marketplace
    • Autos
    • Jobs
    • Real Estate
    • Classifieds
    • Shopping
    • Dining Out
    • Education
    • TWT Store
  • Videos
    • Two Guys
    • Birnbaum on Washington
    • Liz Glover
    • Amanda Carpenter
    • Morning Briefing
    • Documentaries
    • Joe Giganti
    • Video Game Minute
  • Podcasts
    • About Headlines
    • Audio and Radio
    • America's Morning News
  • National

    Justices weigh juveniles' life without parole

  • National

    Leadership changes at the Times

  • National

    Hood suspect earlier came under scrutiny

  • National

    PRUDEN: Fatal reluctance to see evil

  • World

    Envoy: Europe relies on U.S. shield

  • National

    'Anti-vaccine' attitude hampers H1N1 effort

  • Business

    Sinking dollar fuels new gold rush

Home » Culture » Military History

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Corn flops as energy source

Rate this story

Average 0.00
after 0 votes
Login or register to rate this story

  • Font Size -+
  • Print
  • Email
  • Comment
  • Tweet this!
  • Share
  • Article
  • Comments ()
  • Videos
Subscribe to this story's comments

soxconn

Corn is not a transitional technology. You don't use food to produce industrial energy. Solar cells, wind turbines, nuclear, fuel cells are all diverse technologies. Transition requires stability, or it will bring down systems and infrastructure that are complex integrated. Transition must be a node at at time until the diverse technologies transition nodes have the infrastructure to support and take over from carbon energy. Congress and the President did not do their homework on ethanol. It was a quick fix band aid to a bogus state of fear global warming issue, it doesn't matter what Obama calls it.
Mark as offensive

ds80

Corn-based ethanol is a non-starter: every gallon of ethanol produced results in a net energy loss. But: 11 acres of corn can feed approx 7 people for a year (David Pimental, Cornell University agriculture expert) So, hey world: you wanna eat? We'll give you bushels of corn for barrels of oil.
Mark as offensive

Cobra

"One corn bushel yields 2.75 gallons of ethanol." That same bushel will produce 36 POUNDS of cornmeal!
Mark as offensive

crenshaw1

Yeah about Pimentel, his "expertise" is in insects. He was a fellow at the Rachel Carson Institute. The study he did was one of the most intellectually dishonest pieces of merde to ever be written. Why don't you all just come out and say that it is mathmatically impossible to produce enough transportation fuel out of corn ethanol? Ethanol from virgin feedstock (grains, sugarcane, beets) is not smart nor sustainable. But it is a gateway in the sense that people are striving to produce ethanol cheaper and from lower cost feedstocks(ag waste, garbage, kudzu). Ethanol will never replace petroleum totally but it can extend the fuel produced by the domestic oil we are about to start drilling. "Thinning" gasoline by 20 to 30 percent will prolong our supplies long enough to figure out where the Nation will find a viable transfuel source. But yes, we need to get away from food as a fuel source.
Mark as offensive

Post a comment

There are comments on this article, submit your opinion!

Please login or register to post a comment

Top Stories

Most Read

  1. EXCLUSIVE: Rare virus poses new threat to troops
  2. KELLNER: New Apple mouse really is 'Magic'
  3. Parents buying homes for kids at college
  4. EDITORIAL: Too scared to recognize terrorism
  5. Deer dies after leap into D.C. zoo lion exhibit
More Top Stories »
  1. Court refuses to halt sniper's execution
  2. Federal Reserve opposed as big bank savior by odd allies
  3. House OKs health reform bill
  4. Annandale man killed in hit-and-run
  5. Inside the Beltway

Most Shared

  1. KELLNER: New Apple mouse really is 'Magic'
  2. Deer dies after leap into D.C. zoo lion exhibit
  3. EDITORIAL: Too scared to recognize terrorism
  4. EXCLUSIVE: Rare virus poses new threat to troops
  5. Parents buying homes for kids at college
More Top Stories »
  1. Federal Reserve opposed as big bank savior by odd allies
  2. EDITORIAL: President Obama causes more unemployment
  3. The enemy at home
  4. After the Berlin Wall: German unity proves elusive
  5. Patent case goes to Supreme Court

Most Commented

  1. House OKs health reform bill
  2. EDITORIAL: Too scared to recognize terrorism
  3. Army chief wary of backlash against Muslim soldiers
  4. Health bill faces roadblocks in Senate
  5. EDITORIAL: Mr. Obama, stay away from this wall
More Top Stories »
  1. Lieberman vows probe of Hood rampage
  2. Suspected Fort Hood shooter is awake, talking
  3. Obama: It's Senate's turn on health care
  4. EDITORIAL: President Obama causes more unemployment
  5. The enemy at home

Listen to Washington Times Radio

  • America's Morning News

    with John McCaslin and Melanie Morgan

Question of the day

D.C. sniper John Allen Muhammad is scheduled to die by lethal injection tonight. Do you believe in the death penalty?

Blogs & Columns

  • POTUS Notes

    New Dem talking point on Obama approval doesn't wash

  • The Back Story

    12 arrested at Pelosi's office

  • Belief Blog

    New Vatican constitution released

  • Out of Context

    Foods that might kill libido

  • Technology

    Facebook wins round against phishing spammer

  • On the Fly

    United lifts some 'award' blocking

  • Redskins 360

    No interest in Johnson

  • Tara's Two Cents

    On their way to summer vacation..

  • SNOBlog

    Beyond 'Woody'

Videos

Advertising Links
TWT Store
  • e-edition
  • Print Edition
  • Weekly Washington Times
TWT Affiliates
  • Middle East Times
  • Golf
  • UPI
  • Arbor Ballroom
  • Washington Times Global
  • About TWT
  • Press Room
  • F.A.Q.
  • Work for TWT
  • Advertise
  • Sponsors
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Site Map

All site contents © Copyright 2009 The Washington Times, LLC.